Blue Eyes of a Black Wolf
by 72WBlackfoot
Summary: Seven years ago Lord Voldemort was vanquished to his punishment. An Elder Dark adversary and a young warrior meet to test one another, age versus agility. Will wisdom of the past counter the desire for a peaceful future? Currently being revised.
1. Chapter I The Seventeenth Summer

_**Blue Eyes of a Black Wolf**_

**Authors Note. **

His story starts seven years after the graduation of the famous Harry Potter and the fall of the equally famous Lord Voldemort. The first few chapters will be providing a bit of background on our new person and how he fits into JKR's universe.

Newly Revised.

**Chapter I. The Seventeenth Summer. **

_A year has passed since the demise of Tom Riddle._

The room was a mess, just like every teenage boy's room. All of his belongings lying haphazardly around the room, items perfectly balanced half way off bookshelves, dressers, and ceiling fan blades.

The comfortable silence that engulfed the room was broken, "That's not suppose to be up there."

I quickly sprang up from my methodical position, lying on my back in the middle of the floor, and retrieved the mysterious object. I had spent a grand amount of my time during the past few weeks just thinking about what my everyday normal life had been like before it had been shattered to pieces years ago.

I stood there in the center of the room, turning over a very detailed and life-like model of what I could only describe as a very odd looking William Wallace, complete with sword. At least that was what my research thus far had provided me with as an answer. I had misplaced it earlier in the week and wondered where it had gone to; I always kept track of every important item I owned. The curiosity I held for this object made it important, but no matter how hard I tried; I always seem to be losing it, only to find it in the most obscure places. My curiosity wasn't only fired by my unlucky knack for losing the model, but also because I couldn't remember where it came from.

I stood there for minutes, examining every inch of the object, and then suddenly it was gone. I felt the roar of thunder escape me before I could control it.

"That just ain't fair!" I yelled in shock and frustration. I heard my mother open my creaky bedroom door.

"What is this entire ruckus about, what isn't fair?" Her eyebrow was arched in a thin line.

"The damn thing disappeared on me!" I could see it in her eyes and the twitch in her lip. My mother was a split second from telling me off for my language yet again for the umpteenth time this week, when I cut her off.

"I was holding this model of William Wallace, at least I think it was Wallace, and it vanished while I was looking at it!" I noticed the scowl that passed over her forehead, but as soon as it appeared, it was gone.

"What do you mean _vanished?"_

"I was holding the model and it turned clear. Then, there wasn't any weight pressing my hand down, and then all I was holding was air! It's a simple concept, it vanished!"

"You had better learn to keep that tongue of yours in check, or you will be working out back without pay or breaks!"

"Whatever, I got stuff to do."

"Oh really." I knew what was coming just by those two words. She was going to confine me to the house and probably make me sit and read a school textbook.

"Yes, I won't be home for supper and don't wait up for me."  
I had yet again ended the argument on my terms, not the best terms, either, but at least the shock of it would allow me enough time to grab my things and leave the house for a few hours.

I turned the key in the lock, but it didn't budge. _Oh man, I have really done it this time. She went and had the blasted locks changed. _This wasn't the first time, and probably wouldn't be the last either. Long ago, two years actually, I came up with a plan to leave my bedroom window unlocked. Brilliant, really, until she figured how I was getting in and locked it. Needless to say, I wound up paying for a window, installing the window myself, and having to weld the locks shut. Having to weld my own locks shut was really unfair, but I knew it would have been useless to argue with my mother over what was and wasn't fair. But, as my actions grew bolder, my back up plans did too. 

The green numbers, which read 3:48, bit through the darkness. The soft, comfortable feeling of my own bed was welcoming me to sleep.

What seemed like a second later, "Get up!" _Damn, she is shrieking at me again. _It didn't ever seem to stop. 

I slowly opened my eyes, looking around my room, I saw my mother glaring at me from the doorway.  
"You're going to work." I could see that she was not happy with me. She wasn't acting like she normally did when she was upset with me. Her voice was loud and calm, she was serious this time, and it bothered me.

"Okay sure, let me get some clothes on and I will be down for a bite to eat, and then I will be your slave."

"Very funny young man, you-"

"Well that is what I am going to be if I am working in the back. It's not like I haven't seen them working before." And finally with the truth snapped back at her, which she didn't want to confirm, she left me alone in the dark green glow of my room. 4:07

_This is going to be one long day; I can already feel it coming, but at least I did get some sleep. Oh well, working is the only way to keep her out of my hair and keep me from getting kicked out. My hair! Oh, what I could do to it with dye to drive her up the wall. _

"Get that evil smirk off your face this minute, young man. You are going to do some honest-to-goodness hard work for at least once in your life, and you're going to do it right. No more of this half-ass shit you have been doing lately!" By the time she reached the end of her rant, her motherly voice had turned to a shriek and then into an all out yell, echoing in the nearly empty morning kitchen.

_Half-ass shit, so that's what ya think. Well, maybe it's true, but I haven't had fun in a long time, so why should I do anything I don't wanna do?  
Blue…blue, long blue hair. That's what I'll do. She will have a cow if I dye my hair blue, and a Mohawk to boot. She is always ranting about how my ancestors looked like the devil's minions. A long blue Mohawk, it's the perfect thing to get back at her. _

By the time her rant had ceased, I was seated at the kitchen table quietly eating my breakfast, thinking about the look that would be on her face and her scream when she saw me with a blue Mohawk later tonight.

"Ahhhhhheeee----ehhh" She always had the most annoying, earsplitting scream, funny, that was the sound I had just been imagining not one second before.

"What is it?"

"Y- your, your…."

"My what?" Something was not right; there was no mistaking that. But I didn't have a clue as to what it was until a split second later. 

"Hair-Blue-Mohawk-"

"Do what? How can you read my mind?"

"Look-in-the-mirror," Came out her mouth as one long word.

_Even my mother couldn't joke this good, my dad could though. Yeah, he was the best. He was a true man. __He can't ever come back. Gone, and for what? _

_It was what he wanted to do. I have to accept that. _I told myself, though I really didn't believe it.

I got up and walked around the corner knowing full well that as soon as I did, I would see my reflection. _Cool! I have blue hair and a Mohawk to top it off. _

"How did you do that?" her voice was full of worry.

"I didn't do it! I was just thinking about doing it and then you went crazy on me." 

"What do you mean you didn't do it, I saw it happen. I was looking right at you and it just turned blue and then turned into a Mohawk, just like those savages."

"Thanks mom, they are my family too you know."

"Yes well…. You better hurry or you will be late for work."

_Late for work, Christ, my hair just turned blue all on its own and all you can think about is if I will get to work on time. _

I had worked through the rest of my summer and I was now currently three weeks into my last year of school and it wasn't so bad, at least not boring. I had managed to pile up only five detentions and two weeks worth of after school cleaning. It really was a mean thing to make the students clean the school, but the alternative was worse. It could always be worse, knowing what my teachers and principals could do. 

Knock-knock-knock. The entire class, (all twelve of us!) watched as the mysterious knocker entered the room. It was very uncommon for anyone to enter a room late, most of the time the student would just skip the class entirely instead of the first half. But he wasn't a student. He was a man, not just a poor excuse for being male, but someone to look up to, an American Soldier.

"May I have at least thirty minutes of the students' time?" Mr. Fuller, our history teacher, really didn't have much of a choice, the soldier was just asking as an act of courtesy.

We all watched as a smile spread across his face when he stood next to Mr. Fuller at the front of the class.  
"You all know what I am. But do you know why?" The general murmuring around the room confirmed the fact that no one knew why he was a soldier. He continued when everyone had stopped talking.

"The military isn't just about war, although that is what some of us are trained for. The benefits and different types of jobs are unbelievable. Since most people don't understand just what the military can offer for you, I am going to ask you some questions and give you some answers. This isn't my attempt to get you to enlist, I am just letting you know what we can offer you." His eyes scanned the room until he stopped on the girl setting next to me. At the current moment, she was my right hand in crime and midnight lover.

"Miss-" 

"Elizabeth Taren, Sir."

"Miss Taren, do you know what you like to have a career in?"

"Yes, medical research and science." Elizabeth said and quickly glanced over at me looking unsure about her decision.

"Impressive, do you know the total cost of the degree if you were to go to a university?" I could see the color drain out of her face at this question.

"Too much for me to afford," She mumbled.

"At a university, quite possibly, but with the military it won't cost you anything. In fact, everybody gets paid while they are being trained in their chosen career. How many colleges have offered to pay any of you to come and learn?" The Sergeant looked toward the rest of the class and continued, "If that sounds too good to be true, then you are probably going to think that I am lying about what I have to say next.

"You will be given room and board; everyone has free medical care, emergency and non-emergency. You will be given money to buy your uniforms. All college classes you attend while you are serving are completely free, granted that you pass the class. And you are given money to pay for college classes after you leave the military."

He let his statement sink into our minds for a while, and then he began to question each person about their desired career. Fate being the pain in the ass it always is, I was last. 

"Young man."

"My mother calls me that every waking moment, do you know her?" I could see the laughter rise into his eyes.

"No, I don't think I do."

"You wouldn't like her," I told him with a flare of mirth rising in my voice.

"Have you even considered choosing a career?" he asked with a smirk. I had finally broken his professional shell and shown the class that he is, in fact, human.

"Nah, not really… But if you want to pay me for doing what I wanna do, I'll join."

"Do you sleep with your eyes open?" He asked me abruptly

"Not that I know of." _He is a really nice guy, not like the others. _

"Of course, you wouldn't know. How could you find out yourself?" He asked the question more to himself than the class.

"A video recorder," I replied simply at the crack of the whip.

"Quick witted and smart as Albert."

"Albert just had a bunch of theories. It's the Laws of Science that matter not the theories, those are untested and haven't been proven yet."

"Ok, smarter than Albert, getting back on track, what do you like to do?"

"Lots of stuff. Say, you think you could get me a job shooting rockets or playing with explosives?"

"Rockets are a bit dull, actually. A terrible amount of math and geometry are involved, and if my guess is right, that is probably something you won't enjoy doing. Explosives are a bit dangerous to play with, but if that's the job you want, I can do help you get it."

"The only math I want to do is counting money, so the rockets are out. I think I would like working with explosives. Only one condition…" 

"This is going to be good, what is it?"

"I get to keep my hair the way it is right now."

"Well, it does draw attention to you; something that is generally frowned upon."

"Staff Sergeant, I won't take no for an answer." 

"Wait a minute; you got my curiosity. How did you know I was a Staff Sergeant?"

I knew we would wind up here eventually, my dad. The laughter had left my voice immediately and I was a bit withdrawn as I spoke. "Because my father was in the Army."

I realized where this conversation was headed and what I had said to Sergeant Perry, earlier without thinking about it. '_I'll join.' _ I looked over at Elizabeth, as soon as I looked into her eyes she spun in her seat and all I could see was the back of her head. _Shit. She didn't like this at all. _

"What does he do in the Army?"

"He killed people." Everyone could see the sergeant was taken back by this bluntness.

"So, he is in the Infantry?"

"He was an officer in the Third Infantry Division."

"Where is he now?"

With a bit of difficulty, I finally got the two words out, "Arlington Cemetery."

"I am sorry…"

"No need to be, it didn't have anything to do with you. I can't change my hair to any other color." I could here my own dull tone echoing in the silent room.

"Why is that?" he asked, eager to change the topic.

"I don't know. It just won't change colors when I dye it."

"Is it naturally blue?" He asked, looking around the room, seeming uninterested in my hair color.

"Nope, around four months ago it just turned blue and into a Mohawk."

"Strange, but that won't cause any problems."

Turning back to Mr. Fuller, "I fear I have gone over thirty minutes, thank you for allowing me to talk to these kids."

Mr. Fuller rose from his chair, "I hope some of you gained some useful knowledge today, class dismissed."

"Young man." The sergeant called as the other students filed out of the classroom.

"Yes, Momma." I replied with a grin.

"We got a little bit more to chat about, and a few papers to sign before you can run off and get into trouble," he said and winked at me. Jolly sort of fellow, almost like an English man once you got him going, I thought.

Sergeant Perry had not missed the fact that Miss Taren had not moved from her seat. "Mr. Fuller, why don't you and I go get a cup of coffee and compare notes as to what is in the history books and what was conveniently forgotten."

"I have an hour to spare sergeant." Mr. Fuller replied

"I will be back in an hour to start the paperwork."

She sat there at her desk just looking at me standing next to the door. I could see the question written all over her face, _might as well get it over with. _

I walked over to the desk Elizabeth was setting in. If I were to ever be hung at the gallows, I am certain that I could closely compare the feeling of walking to the noose and walking to her right now.

"You want to know why?"

"You're damn right and I want to know now!" Logic would deem it impossible, but her tone was mixed with love and hatred. I guess I should have talked with her privately before I said anything in front of our class.

_Now, I was left to explain my actions. This will be a walk in the park, I can explain stuff I barely understand everyday of the week. Yeah right, who am I kidding…_

"That's not something to joke about, and it is a bad joke at that." _Great, this is lovely, first Elizabeth and now my mother. At least, Elizabeth knew I wasn't joking. _

"It wasn't a joke." I replied dully as I looked around my mother's room, trying hard not to look her in the eye.

"You know you used to smile a little bit when you were joking."

"Call my sergeant and let him tell you it's a joke, better yet we can take a trip to his office. That way you can see his reaction."

"You're not joking are you?" She had a look in her eyes, almost a begging pleading look.  
_Christ, it took long enough, but I think I am finally getting through to her. _

"No." I was slowly breaking her heart, I could tell just by the look on her face.

"Why?" She was clearly asking me why I wanted to join, no more bush beating. She was asking straight up questions now, _took long enough. _

"It's what I want to do."

_I finally choose a career, you have been harping about it for years, and now all you can do is cry, women…_

I knew I had to do something to comfort her, so I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a caring hug, something I hadn't done in months.

"You know it's not just war, death and destruction. He said I would have universities contacting me in a few days and just to pick a few things out, and once I know where I am going to be permanently stationed, I can enroll in a college. After I complete my training, of course, the Army is going to pick up the bill on my school."

"That's wonderful." It pained me to see that sad look on her face and the tears that refused to fall.

"It's a good deal, and it's what I want to do."

"Your father would be proud of you." She said, teary-eyed.

"I am sure he is, but I am not just doing this for him. I am doing it for you and me."

_I need to get her to sit down before she falls down…_


	2. Chapter II Receiving the Mail

_**Blue Eyes of a Black Wolf**_****

Chapter II. Receiving the Mail

Newly Revised. 

_Six years has passed since the last chapter._

I felt a gentle shaking, and then suddenly a very rough shove sent me from the small bed onto the floor. With a grunt I climbed back into bed and muttered a good morning to my wife.

"Good morning to you, too!" 

Her unusual morning roughness continued and kept me from slipping back into my peaceful dreams.

"Harry, get up, get up!"

"What? I thought we were going to lie-in, remember?" Through the curtains I could see an orange glow slowly creeping over the tree tops. How could she even be awake this early? We were up well past two in the morning celebrating our narrow win over the Caerphilly Catapults. 'Catapults' was an accurate description; they played brutally, disregarding the rules. This was my third season with the Tutshill Tornados, and yesterday's game's final score was three hundred and ten to one hundred and eighty. Of course, that wasn't the only reason we were in a festive mood, as last night was one of the few times in the year that Hermione and Ron, the entire Weasley family, and Ginny and I could get together at the Burrow.

"We were until the perimeter alarms went off!" She yelled exasperatedly. She looked like she had just been jerked awake, her eyes were still glazed over and her hair was tousled.

That was all she needed to tell me, and my mind suddenly made the connection clear. I had no idea how I managed to sleep through the mental alert of the alarms being activated. A hippogriff in a china shop didn't even come close to the racket I was hearing inside my head right now. I quickly deactivated the alarm before it gave me a head ache. 

Somebody was coming toward the Burrow, and they were coming fast. Oddly, it was faster than someone running, and slower than someone trying to fly in on the latest broom, and an uninvited visitor Apparating was out of the question completely. When was this going to completely end?

Voldemort had died just a little over seven years before, the mass of the Death Eaters followed shortly after that. The Ministry of Magic had made their stance clear, they had no tolerance for Dark Arts or Death Eaters. There were still trials, but not many Death Eaters got a chance to go to Azkaban. The Ministry implemented a zero-tolerance policy on magic used to harm Wizards and Muggles; the standard punishment was the death.

I was at the door of our room when Ginny's urgent voice stopped me. "Harry!" 

I tried to sway her fears, in a calm voice I told her, "Don't worry, Ginny, it's probably just some two pint fourth-year Slytherin trying to complete a plan that no longer matters." _Why didn't we hold these parties at Grimmauld Place? The last of the Death Eaters can't reach us there. _

Her look of fear was replaced with a bewildered smile. What I said had somehow confused her. "No, Harry, it's not that-"

_Women burst out in giggles at the strangest times. _"What is it?"

She finally managed a word through her fit of giggling. "Clothes!" 

I could feel the laughter creeping up on me. I could imagine the article title more than I could the actual scene.  
**  
The Boy Who Lived, braver than before, fights last of enemy in the buff! **

By the time I was dressed and starting toward the door, I could hear footsteps coming up the stairs. Then came the almost silent knocking of Mrs. Weasley. "Come in, Mum," Ginny called out to her.

"Oh, it's good to see both of you up, and at least one of you dressed- Ginny, what's so funny?" Mrs. Weasley commented cheerfully as she entered the room.

"Oh nothing, Mum." I could see her trying to suppress another wave of laughter.

"Well, I came up here to give you two a letter, gave us quite a start," she exclaimed.

"It set off the perimeter alarms also." I cringed as Ginny spoke. Molly had been trying nonstop since the battle in Manchester, where the last of the known active Death Eaters were captured, to get us to drop the connection we had to the alarms.

"How did you know it did that?" Her question really wasn't a question, it was just another way for her to start a conversation with us about dropping the connections.

"Because Ginny and I are still connected to them, since all of his followers are not locked away or gone, there are still a few hiding in the shadows." Each time, I tried a new approach to the situation in hopes that she would drop the matter. I was growing weary of it, but I kept a peaceful tone.

"Yes, yes, but it's much safer now. Anyway, whatever this," she waved the letter into view, "is about, it's important because it was delivered by one of Professor McGonagall's falcons. You know the ones that are used for fast school business. People generally don't use falcons when a normal owl will do. Of course, they could have called through the fire if it were still connected." She tried to sound displeased about the fireplace being disconnected from the Floo Network, but I saw right through her actions.

"Thank you," I told her and took the letter that she was offering me, and then continued, "The fire is staying disconnected. I am sure you remember the last bloke who came through the Floo." I calmly reminded her of the inconsiderate prat that decided to drop in on us, uninvited, during dinner.

"Harry James, all they want to do is thank you." Ginny's sweet voice did nothing to make me change my mind, only to fill my mind with other thoughts, thoughts best not to have in the presence of Molly Weasley.

"I know they do, but I just want to lead a normal life now, the prophecy is over and done with. He is gone, and now I just want to have a quiet life with you."

"We all know you will never be normal, Harry. You are responsible for ending the war that started when I was in school. I will let you two get to your post while I go save breakfast from Ron and Bill's cooking experiments."

"Ron and Bill are cooking!" Ginny's sweet voice had turned into a disbelieving squeak of shock.

"Yes dear, only because neither one wanted to come up here and deliver the letter." I could hear the laughter in her voice as she shut the door.

"I guess speeding falcons set off the defenses," I told Ginny and began to open the letter. 

_I wonder what this is going to be about and why do they want both of us? _

"Err… Ginny, you might want to get dressed."

"Why?"

"We have a meeting to attend with the school governors at seven o clock this morning." _It had to be soon, judging by the sun. _

"That's in twenty minutes!" Ginny had insisted on keeping that childish looking clock. Even with my non-stop attempts to hide the hideous thing, she always found it and placed it back on the nightstand. It did serve its propose in the end.

"It was a good thing the letter was delivered express."

The Hogwarts School governors, finally rid of Lucius Malfoy, met in one of the most peaceful and relaxing private rooms in the Leaky Cauldron. Mr. Malfoy had traded his position of power for a single kiss. He was paying for his decades of criminal activity by living, soulless, in a dark pit that served as his jail cell. This cell was not located at Azkaban, but at a much more secure location known only as 'the New Prison.' The name was the only thing that anyone knew about it and the wizarding community didn't care, so long as the criminals, murderers, and Death Eaters could never get out again. 

The school governors had an equal amount of respect and power both in the magical community, and among themselves, but they had all chosen Mr. Crowe to lead this meeting. Despite his looks, he was the oldest and considered the wisest of the twelve governors, and he had known Professor Dumbledore better than the others. This was the deciding factor on who would lead the meeting.

"Good morning, I am Mr. Crowe and the other school governors have elected me to preside over this meeting. Mr. Potter, do you know why you were summoned here this morning?" Mr. Crowe sounded a lot like Professor Binns except he did not have the ability to make me fall asleep after a few minutes.

"Sir, I don't have a clue. I remember the day I graduated, well, most of it anyway." If it hadn't been for the side effects, I doubt anybody that attended would have remembered Dean and Seamus' spontaneous party.

The consequence of the party was an irate Headmistress, due to the fact that the graduates could not find a safe place that was big enough to party in, so they returned to Hogwarts that evening. After a few minutes of arguing, she allowed for her prestigious castle of knowledge and wisdom to be converted into a safe haven for the wildest authorized party in the history of Hogwarts. Hermione Granger's name was finally going into _Hogwarts, A History_, but it had nothing to do with freeing the school house-elves.

Feathers covered everything in sight the next morning, thanks to Fred and George's Canary Cream Custards and various other edible bird transfiguration products. Neville, who found sleeping next to a magically enhanced karaoke machine with the microphone in his hand, was still a mystery to this day. The party seemed to regenerate Peeves; to say the least, he was exuberant in his endeavors, and McGonagall was furious with us for this.

With everyone contributing Galleons from their new jobs, it took four months for the combined tab at Three Broomsticks, Honeydukes Sweet Shop, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes and Zonko's to be paid off from that one night. Almost a year later two pictures were found in a book from the library. The first was a picture of almost everyone in the Great Hall, and the second was photographical evidence that even Moaning Myrtle can have some fun. Although it did take a while to figure out which ghost was dancing with Dean Thomas. There were rumors that the Headmistress confiscated and destroyed a third picture. It was supposedly of a strip-Quidditch tournament. No one could remember such an event or wanted to own up such a thing either, and a pair of socks found near the broom shed on the Quidditch pitch didn't help matters but in the end the event was politely forgotten about.

In his eagerness and haste, Lord Voldemort met his end, which was followed by an even grander and more boisterous party a few long weeks later. This time the entire wizarding community celebrated world wide. It was the happiest moment in decades for the world, and everyone decided to take more than a few days off from work. It was nearly two months before the entire community settled down to live in a nice peaceful rut.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, thank you for coming on short notice." Mr. Crowe's voice was mellow, but there was a slight hint of unexplained excitement in it. He gestured for Ginny and I to take a seat on the only remaining worn, brown leather sofa. It was a pleasant environment to conduct a meeting in, but there was uncomfortable silence that was continuing to drag on, in the room.

"Mr. Potter, shall we get straight to business?"

"I don't see why not but please sir, you can call me Harry. It's not like I am the Minister." I added the last part in a joking manner.

I wasn't expecting the serious reply that followed. "Mr. Potter, you could be the Minister of Magic of England in a flash if you said the word."

_Of England, I never heard that before. I knew about the other magical Ministers, but I never heard of the Ministry of Magic referred to as Ministry of Magic of England. Where are they going with this? Obviously, they are not here to offer me the Minister's job but probably something close to it.  
_

"Mr. Potter, do not worry, you won't become Minister today, but I assure you if you want the job in years to come, or next year for that matter, I can't think of anyone alive that wouldn't vote for you," Mr. Crowe pointed out.

"Sir, I am more than happy with my honorary membership with the International Confederation of Wizards. I really don't want to be involved in political matters more than I already am." After the governors' chuckling had died down, Mr. Crowe headed the conversation straight to the matters that brought us here.

"The other governors and I have spoken and agreed. In accordance with Headmaster Albus Dumbledore's private wishes, you will be the honourable Headmaster of Green Raven Ruin Magical Establishment. You will be the headmaster of Green Raven that is, of course, if you accept the offer. We do not wish to force anything upon you."

I desperately tried to get my voice to work, but it took what felt like hours to actually get all the questions racing through my head organized. I felt an arm wrap around my back, the look on Ginny's face was unforgettable.

"Headmaster?" I heard myself croak.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, Headmaster of Green Raven Ruin Magical Establishment. Headmistress McGonagall has told us that she would be pleased to help you in any way while you are settling in to the position.

"Although she didn't sound like she was willing to hex herself to help you, she has offered her help, which should not be taken lightly," Mr. Crowe said seriously. 

"Sir, I… I am only twenty-five, and all of you want me to be Headmaster of Green Raven! Where is Green Raven?" Shock had finally worn itself off, and curiosity was beginning to take over. I didn't wait for the answer to my question. "Why didn't Green Raven contact me?"

"Mr. Potter, age is not necessarily a main requirement for the job, experience is. You have led a hard life where many things were forced upon you. You have learned from those encounters and lived to tell the tale, more than some can say, a bit saddening but true. Everyone who knows about this so far, Headmistress McGonagall, the school governors, and one Unspeakable, all hold the same decision on the matter.

"You are worthy of the position. We do not fear that you would use the position to take advantage of something. We also feel that you can teach these teenagers a thing or two, considering how well you did with Dumbledore's Army back in your fifth-"

Suddenly a flag went up in my mind, it had a bold label. **  
Teenagers. **

I interrupted Mr. Crowe's small speech. "Sir, you said I would be teaching teenagers. Do you mean eleven year olds or older teenagers like fifteen or sixteen?" I was a bit anxious to hear the answer but at the same time I really didn't want the question to be answered.

"Mr. Potter, you wouldn't be teaching in a classroom environment unless you chose to do so. It would be a bit like the way Albus Dumbledore taught you. As far as the age of the pupils, they will be at least seventeen. The maximum age limit will be left up to you.

"Perhaps this letter found in the Department of Mysteries, left by the late Headmaster, will be able to answer your questions better than we can. One letter was left for you, and the other letter left was titled 'School Governors after the fall of Tom Riddle.' Green Raven was until just very recently thought to be a mythical large village. Its exact location still eludes us to this very day. From what we can gather by what little Professor Dumbledore told us in our letter, he owned Green Raven and has given it to you. But no more sketchy assumptions, here is your letter." His old, dry voice didn't help ease my anxiety about what I was about to find out.

I took the letter and settled myself back on the couch and I felt Ginny move around a bit so she could clearly see the letter.

_Dear Harry,  
It was my wish to tell you about this exciting new adventure that awaits you in the flesh. No man knows when his end will come so I wrote this to insure that one of my many dreams would come true. I have faith in you, Harry, you have accomplished too much in your short life to lead a normal, average career._

When the prophecy was first heard, I decided that it was in the best interest of the school not to allow potential students from abroad to enter Hogwarts. The school governors were given a very limited amount of information but agreed, all the same. This was done to protect each child and their family, but now we are faced with a problem, a problem that has happened because of a mistake of an old man. Yes, I was an old man when your parents were in school. It is the same mistake I made at the end of each year. I cared too much and wanted you to live as peacefully as possible.

Do you see the problem I have created? No doubt by now there are many gifted witches and wizards abroad that don't understand why they are 'unnatural'. An untrained, highly gifted wizard can be just as dangerous as a dark wizard. I am sure that by now between the Ministries around the world, the Order, and the Army you and Miss Granger created for me, the dark witches and wizards have been take care of but something must be done about the untrained wizards. 

I felt Ginny pull herself closer to me. I glanced up from the letter to see a smile slowly forming on her face. I knew I had to continue reading, it was the only logical thing to do. At this point I probably know just about much as the governors did, maybe more.

_The school governors will no doubt let the young children enter Hogwarts, and hopefully create a program for the ones that are twelve to fourteen to study at Hogwarts. This takes care of just a small portion of the untrained magical community that resides mostly in the northwestern hemisphere. Green Raven provides the perfect location for a magical school filled with wizards that are of age, but do not have a clue how to turn a tortoise into a teapot._

Green Raven was once a large magical village; I was unable to uncover what caused the village population to decline. There were no untimely deaths, and most inhabitants were seen in later years in other villages and cities throughout the world. I do not expect foul actions were the cause of the declining population. 

Green Raven Castle is under reconstruction at the moment and the work will only stop when it is back up to par. I own the land surrounding Green Raven Castle along with the village. When the last original village inhabitant left, he gave me ownership of the village. This was not mentioned in my will for obvious reasons. Harry, the village is yours, the surrounding land is yours, and the school is yours. This is not to be made into a summer retreat, but to share with those worthy of the gift; great treasures bring and require greater responsibility.

I now ask you to teach those witches and wizards that are exceptionally gifted in the Green Raven Ruin Magical Establishment, teach them in such a way I taught you. 

There is only one book in existence that talks about Green Raven; the book has been hidden twice in a less than ordinary library. I think you know where and how to find the book. The book will provide enough information for you to find Green Raven, as well as any other critical piece of information you might need to know.

This is not the end but merely the very tip of a new beginning. Take each new challenge with an open mind and a joke not too far away.

Albus Dumbledore 

When I looked up, it was like looking in the mirror. Shock, pride, uncertainty, and a little bit of hope all swelling to the surface in her eyes and all were only a breath away from bursting out of her.

I vaguely heard Mr. Crowe's voice break the silence. "You can wait as long as you want before you give your official answer. This is not a small decision to make, let wisdom guide you."

"Could you excuse us for a moment? I want to talk to my wife about this," I politely asked the governors.

"Of course, we will be waiting in the next room." Mr. Crowe and the other governors stood and left the room. When the door clicked shut behind them, Ginny jumped straight to the point.

"What is there to talk about?' she inquired incredulously.

After nearly seven years of marriage, the woman could still astound me with her actions. "Well, to start with, if I take the job it will change the way we live," I gently advised her.

"What are you getting at?" she demanded.

I answered her, trying not to put too much emphasis on anything in particular. "It won't be the same as me playing Quidditch. I will probably have no choice but to live in the school, and I would be busier. We would have less time to ourselves."

"Did the thought ever cross your mind about me coming with you?" Ginny suggested.

"It did, but you have a good job and you shouldn't give that up just so you can be close to me for a few hours."

I could tell by the shocked and bemused look on her face what I said was not what she was expecting.

"Harry James Potter, are you thinking before you speak? Are you listening to the drivel that is coming out your mouth!" Ginny hands flew wildly about, while her voice rose.

"I…well…" I was stumped, she was right. How could I have said that.

"I love you, you moron. I can change professions but I refuse to be without you!" Ginny cried out.

"We'll find something for you to work on at the school," I told her reassuringly.

A sly, playful grin appeared on her face before she spoke. "I could take Peeves' place at this new school."

"I remember Peeves getting chewing gum magically shoved up his nose by Remus."

"Maybe I won't take Peeves' place," she said while unconsciously rubbing her nose.

"If there is a way, would you want to continue your work at the school?" Four years ago Ginny went to work near McGregor's Loch at a magical wildlife reserve. It was suppose to be a temporary job, I had seen through it. She enjoyed caring for the injured animals and training them too. This year Ginny started teaching some of the new workers on the reserve how to care for the animals. I could tell that she enjoyed her job and a part of me couldn't ask her to quit a job she loved. 

"I would, but it's not possible. There are laws and restrictions against it. Remember the trouble Hagrid got into for the Blast-Ended Skrewts?" I could tell she was excited about the thought of being able to continue breeding and raising magical creatures on the grounds of Green Raven, but we both knew it wasn't likely to happen.

"Trust me, I remember the Skrewts all too well! Just promise me you won't breed or take care of anything like that." I knew I wouldn't have to beg her not to breed Skrewts, but I didn't want to take any chances.

"I won't, but I still don't think I will be able to continue working off the reserve."

"Let me handle that, love," I said and left to get the governors.

With everyone settled back into their original seats, the room seemed a bit full; I felt my stomach twitching and turning in abnormal ways.

"Mr. and Mrs. Potter, have you come to a decision?"

"I accept the position of Headmaster, only if my wife can continue her work on the school grounds."

The governors didn't seem to be bothered by this clause. The only visible signs were a quick nod of the head for all but one; the last shrugged in indifference to the matter. A grey haired man sitting across the room adjusted his glasses before he spoke.

"Mr. Potter, you will find that allowing the breeding and training of magical creatures on your own land isn't a drastic clause to the agreement because America doesn't have a well organized government for the magical people. There aren't many laws, and since you own the land, there is not much they can say about what happens on it. The magical government is quite the reverse of the Muggle one in certain areas. We just ask that you take the appropriate measures to protect everyone. Our official authority does not cover your school, we can only ask that keep the students' safety in mind. I think it would a wonderful idea if the pupils had more interaction with magical creatures outside of normal classes."

"So no Hippogriffs or Blast-Ended Skrewts?"

"I think Hippogriffs and Blast-Ended Skrewts are positively tame compared to Thestrals, Trolls, Dragons, and Giants," the governor started laughing softly at my shocked look. Mr. Crowe took over in the other man's silence. 

"We were well aware of the hobbies of Professor Hagrid. We are still impressed with his ability to domesticate Thestrals. I know the troll was not his responsibility, but we were a bit shocked to learn he kept a dragon in his wooden hut.

"Mr. Potter, I am sure you have questions, many of which we cannot answer because we simply do not know the answers. Headmistress McGonagall has kindly agreed to meet with you in ten minutes in the Head Study at Hogwarts to answer some of those questions."

"Yes Sir, I will make time for it," I assured him.

"You are doing the right thing, Mr. Potter. I know how easy it would be for you to continue your Quidditch career." He said it, but I am sure that he was proud of my decision.

The Head Study no longer looked like Dumbledore's Study, which was something that I couldn't quite get over. After seeing it almost exactly the same for six years, the change was a bit disturbing.

McGonagall was sitting behind the large desk, still looking the same as ever. A thought popped into my head and I leaned down and whispered into my wife's ear… 

"Oww!" My thoughts earned me a small fist connecting with my upper left arm. A man was standing leisurely in front of the window. He was wearing an assortment of normal Muggle clothes. He continued to stare out the window, unmoving.

"Ginny, it's so good to see you again, but please don't assault the hero," McGonagall said with a sly smile on her face.

"It's good to see you again, too, Professor. Just for the record, he deserved it for what he just said."

I saw Professor McGonagall arch her eyebrow in the questioning manner that she had perfected long ago.

"Headmistress, I was wondering if I could request a favour of you?" I asked, quickly trying to avoid McGonagall questioning what was said between us.

"Please, let's drop the titles. I have known you for fourteen years, Harry, and you have graduated from Hogwarts, so please call me Minerva. That goes for both of you.

"I thought I also told the governors to tell you that I would be willing to work with you and Ginny?" she said, and I could tell by her tone that she didn't like the governors too much.

"They did," I assured her.

"Pardon my manners," she said and conjured two blue over-stuffed chairs out of thin air. We took our seats and I paused for a minute as I glanced over at the man, he was still staring out the window.

"What is your favour?" she asked curiously.

I didn't want to say anything in front of the mysterious man, but it was obvious that Minerva was not going to dismiss him, so I reluctantly spoke. "I need to have the Mirror of Erised moved inside the Room of Requirement."

"Harry, what in the name of Merlin are you playing at?" McGonagall exclaimed.

"Well, since nobody left me a map of how to reach Green Raven, and no one knows where it is, I have to find one. In the letter Dumbledore left me, he said 'the book has been hidden twice in a less than ordinary library.' The book includes directions on how to get to Green Raven, I hope. 

"The Room of Requirement is the obvious choice of a less than ordinary library, and combined with the Mirror, only a person that truly wants the book for a good and pure purpose would be able to retrieve it from its hiding place." I could see her staring attentively at Dumbledore's empty Portrait, a habit she had when she was thinking intently about something. On some occasions in my seventh year, I had seen Dumbledore wave energetically at her during those moments. Today it was just a blank piece of canvas.

She didn't exactly sound happy, but I think she understood that this was the only way. "Well, it seems that you have put some thought into this, so I will contact the Ministry later this afternoon and have them move the mirror-"

"Prof…err… Minerva." It felt odd calling her by her first name, not to mention interrupting her.

"Yes?"

"They don't need to know about the Room of Requirement, so it might be wise to have them place it somewhere else within the castle and then we can move it from there." I cautioned her.

"A wise choice of action. I will let you know when the mirror is in place."

A bright cheerful voice came from near the window. "He still doesn't trust the Ministry." The man said with a chuckle.

Apparently this man seemed to think my history with the Ministry was humorous.

"No, I don't," I snapped at him.

"I didn't mean to be rude, I don't trust most of them either." He replied kindly.

"Harry, this is Mr. McCormick. He is the Unspeakable that was in charge of the letters that Professor Dumbledore left. He can answer any questions you have about Green Raven."

_Questions! Top of the list, where is the bleeding castle? _

"Do you have any idea where the Green Raven is located?"

"No, only that is completely shut off from the non-magical world, and that it has very tightly closed off entrances. The four attempts to force entry were beyond disastrous."

"Four attempts, what happened?"

"Yes, by Portkey, Thestrals, Floo network and Apparating. The poor bloke that used a Portkey still hasn't been found. The Thestrals, we used several just to be sure, literally flew around the world to random place before we could convince them to land. The woman that tried to Floo wasn't as fortunate as the others. She spun around in the network for some time before we were able to retrieve her. Apparition was really just a joke, everyone knew it wouldn't work, but it was something that needed to be tested."

"What happened when someone tried Apparating?" Splinching your body wasn't a cheerful thing to experience, and having parts of your body stuck at unknown location didn't sound very appealing to me.

"Sometimes they would just stand there, and other times they would disappear for a second or two only to return and be thrown violently at the ground. For everyone's sake, I hope your trick with the mirror works." I could hear the urgency in his voice.

"You're not going to tell them about the Room of Requirement are you?" I questioned Mr. McCormick.

"Not much to worry yourself about there. The mirror is kept in the Department of Mysteries, and as far as telling about Hogwarts secrets, I am an Unspeakable and also a Hogwarts graduate," he said with a slight wink.

"You don't seem like an Unspeakable to me," Ginny scoffed.

I was surprised when he took the comment with a good sense of humour. "Yes, I believe the stereotype description is dark, creepy, silent, and deranged. Did I get it right?"

Ginny had just embarrassed herself and could only nod. In the silence I decided to voice my next question on the list. "Mr. McCormick, why did you wait all this time before letting the letters' presence be known?"

After a peculiar moment of silence Mr. McCormick disclosed the reason. "Well, you had just finished fighting a war that had been going on for decades and I felt you deserved some time to live."

"You felt-" I was filling with rage; why did people always see the need to hide things from me? He must have seen the rage building inside of me because he cut me off before I could get a good start.

"Yes, I have normal human feelings. It was also one of the wishes of Dumbledore. He wanted you to enjoy the freedom that you had fought for and won. He wanted you to experience life as normally as you could and I would have to say you have done a bang up job of it, for the most part. That was excellent game yesterday."

"What do you mean 'for the most part'?" I asked curiously.

His gaze lifted off of the book shelf he was looking at and flashed toward Ginny for the briefest moment.

"You and Ginny have excellent careers, you have good friends, a nice social life, and nobody is bent on destroying either of you. But seven years of marriage and…" His voice trailed off. Clearly whatever it was he had on his mind he didn't feel comfortable talking about it. 

"What Mr. McCormick is trying to say is with you becoming Headmaster, you and Ginny will be able to settle down and, dare I speak the words aloud, start a family." Minerva said in mock fear. 

Ginny took the remark quite well actually, she smirked at Minerva and said, "You just wait until Fred and George's kids turn eleven then we'll see about which Weasley shouldn't have children."

_Why were there untrained witches and wizards running loose over America? Why didn't the Americans organize a school? _Trying to get the conversation back on track, I voiced my thoughts.

"They don't have a place to properly learn anymore, most are taught by their parents. This compounds the problem, because not many are well rounded in all the magical subjects that pupils are taught in school. From your early childhood, you know more than anyone else in this room what poor attitudes and unwise decisions can lead to. Not everyone is meant to be a teacher but more than a few have been forced into the position recently in America." I noticed that he didn't quite hold the same happiness about him, like something bad had happened, and it wasn't his favorite subject to discuss.

"Surely they have a few capable witches and wizards on their continent to form a school." The idea that they didn't was too absurd to think about at the moment.

"That is the unusual part, they do have wizards and witches capable of this job, but most are already employed in some form or another. It was Dumbledore's property, and it was his wish, not the American's. They have no idea that the castle is within their territory, or they would have attempted to use the structure to their advantage.

"The Americans have also been rather occupied with themselves since the nineteen thirties and have been keeping a secret relatively quiet outside of their own continent. The fact that so many could keep the secret until now is astounding." Where any normal person would have sounded impressed and excited, he didn't, and it worried me. What could be so bad that had to be kept secret from the rest of the world for over seventy years?

"The nineteen thirties, that's over seventy years! What have they been doing to keep them busy that long?" Mr. McCormick had my, as well as Ginny and Minerva's, Complete attention.

"Since the nineteen thirties, a magical war between two factions has been occurring on the vast continent. What we were able to find out was that this war escalated to mass killings somewhere around the forties or fifties. Since that time, it has only grown in size. Our sources best describe it as a civil war between those witches and wizards that left Europe for America and the descendents of the Old Ones." 

A few years ago when things settled down, I began to catch up on all the stories and legends that I had been deprived of because I had grown up in a Muggle home. According to the ancient history books, the Old Ones were the people that came before the Native Americans. The Old Ones were the true link to the 'magic' that the medicine chiefs created and controlled.  
I had tried for days to figure out where the Old Ones had come from, but they went back to the very edge of the era of pre-recorded history under the same name.

"This is mad! It's like…" _Oh, I knew I should have paid more attention in that Muggle school, _I thought.

"The American Revolution." Mr. McCormick supplied the missing information.

"Yes, that's what I was thinking about."

"Well, I wouldn't be so quick to label it like anything from the past. Our information doesn't have near enough detail to it, but this is something that you will need to settle among your pupils from the first day and not waiver in your decision." Behind that cheerful tone was wisdom well worth taking. 

"Minerva, how am I supposed to find enough qualified people to teach in this school?" I asked.

"I told you I would help you, I know of a couple professors. Maybe we should schedule another meeting for Tuesday that way you can get back to the Burrow and I can get to work."

The room wasn't a nice place to be: strict, direct, very disheartening, and full of my superiors. I had shown my knowledge, skill, and leadership all with confidence, and in return asked for my rank of sergeant to be returned to me. Did I mention _all_ of them were unhappy with me?

It was silent as a morgue when they dismissed me, but the tension and anger that my commanding officer was radiating made it feel like I was in a human size vice with someone yelling at me. The door closed behind me with a deafening crack. It is possible to get your point across without uttering a word, and I was learning it had more of an effect, too.

"Damnit, Benson why do they keep doing this to me!" I asked the private that was waiting on me as I exited the board room. Ever since last spring the promotion board had been rejecting my rank to Sergeant.

"Well, it may have had something to do with what happened with th-" Private Benson began saying but was cut off.

"Shut up, and don't speak about that up here," I said and glared at an idle sergeant that was eavesdropping on our conversation.

Benson drove me back over to my _office._ I was the only Infantryman with a damn office and desk. Major Taren, my commanding officer, had made sure that everyone knew it was my office and desk by getting name plates made up for each that were bigger than anyone else's, including his. As I settled in my desk, I immediately began filling out paperwork to request a transfer of station and/or unit. Anything to get me out of this hell hole I had created.

"Sergeant Cooper," a private from the door called to me, I shoot him a dark look and he continued. "My apologizes, Corporal. There is a man here requesting to speak with you."

"Who is he?" I automatically asked, like it really mattered.

"Says his name is Rowe. I haven't ever seen him before."

"Alright, send him back here." I told the private and turned back to the transfer paperwork.

I felt him enter the room, strangers always put off that out of place signature like they are lost. I looked up from the papers to see an old man that had a British look to him standing in my doorway.

"Come in and have a seat." I welcomed him into my cramped office. Filing cabinets lined an entire wall, an old and broken computer was shoved into a corner, and a rotary phone sat on the top a set of metal shelves. Anybody that walked by would say it looked like a tornado had just rolled through, but it was organized for the most part. A German World War II Officer said it the best. 'War is chaos, The United States Army practices chaos on a daily basis.' I couldn't say he was he was wrong either!

Mr. Rowe took a few steps into the small office and looked around for a place to sit. I may have had nameplates but they sure as hell weren't going to give me an extra chair for visitors!

He gave me a quizzical look; I laughed and told him, "It's a running joke around here. They won't spare a dollar to get me another chair."

We shared a laugh and I asked, "How can I help you, Mr. Rowe?"

"I am looking for a Mr. Cooper, Brandon Cooper," he said in a slightly official tone.

"Well, it's been a long time since someone has called me Mister, but I am Brandon Cooper."

The old British man nodded his head and asked, "Have you reached a decision?"

"A decision about what, sir?" I asked. I didn't have the slightest clue who he was or what he was babbling about.

"About the school, young man. I am the representative of the Ministry of Magical Education." From the look on Mr. Rowe's face, I think he expected me to know what he was talking about.

"Excuse me, the Ministry of what again?"

"Magical Education," he held an air of happiness and confidence that never seemed to fade. He was speaking about magic like it was perfectly normal thing.

_Great the private let a kook into the building. _

"Hang on a second, let me finish this bit of paperwork up," I told him and finished filling out the transfer papers before filling them in the outbox with a note on it that reminded me that it still needed Major Taren's signature.

"Okay so what is this about a mystery execution?"

He chuckled before he replied, "It's not an execution or a mystery, lad."

I looked down at my desk and in the center of it, no where near the in-box, laid an envelope. I picked it up and opened it, half paying attention to the old man and the other half to the letter.

"Oh, you haven't even opened your letter!" he exclaimed.

"What is all this about Mr. Rowe?" I asked now understand that his babbling was connected to this mysterious letter.

"Read the letter first and then I will explain."

_Dear Mr. Cooper,_

I hope this letter finds you well. Due to procedures imposed to protect not only yourself but also all of us, this letter finds you a few years late. We are terribly sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you, but in trying times of war, from which we have only recently freed ourselves, we must take precautions to protect everyone that we possibly can.

Mr. H. Potter has kindly opened the doors of the Green Raven Ruin Magical Establishment, and extends his wish for you to come and learn the many arts of magic. The school will be much like what you call a university. This offer, however, is not all frills and lace; you would be seven years behind in your basic studies compared to other wizards your own age and most likely completely lost for a few weeks. But the opportunity is available if you wish to study to become a wizard. We would be delighted to show you just what you are capable of becoming. A new world awaits those who seek it!

A Ministry of Magical Education employee will contact you in person in a few moments to receive your decision on the matter. You may contact your mother or father for an immediate answer, as they are full blood wizards. They may be able to answer a few questions until the Magical Education employee arrives.

Best Wishes,  
Green Raven Ruin Magical Establishment staff.

Post Script  
Mr. Potter has taken a personal interest in you and was shocked to learn that all you have done is turn your hair into a blue mohawk, but he does see this as sign of good hope considering that your hair hasn't changed in years and can not be changed by Muggle remedies.

When I looked back up, the old man was smiling and sitting in an overstuffed chair with a bright floral design.

Well that is something! Magic schools, wizards, suddenly appearing chairs, maybe I was the crazy one. It could be real, but I seriously hope pigs didn't fly now,

"Forgive me, I am getting old and like to be able to sit, young man." He looked like my grandfather, well, close enough anyway. It was more his patient voice and steady happiness than anything else about him.

"Not a problem at all. So, if I go to this school, what's in it for me?" I suddenly realized how rude it sounded and continued, "I mean, I am getting along just fine without knowing whatever it is this school teaches. If I do attend, how is it going to change anything?"

"You can become a qualified wizard, new job opportunities and you will be able to control the _strange_ things that keep happening." The friendly chat was over, we were getting down to business, as politely and directly as we could manage.

"I can't exactly up and leave this," I said looking around the room.

"We can help you with that." He seemed to be prepared for most of my questions. Did he really know that much about me, or was he desperate enough to agree blindly?

"You do understand that they _can _kill me if I go AWOL because we are at war."

Mr. Rowe lightly chuckled, "Mr. Cooper they would have a hard time killing someone when their records show you as a combat fatality."

"Major Taren refuses to release me from his command, much less go over seas. Trust me, I am exhausting myself trying to convince him to deploy me again. Marking me off as a fatality is out of the questions."

Mr. Rowe pulled a single paper out of his briefcase and handed it to me. They were orders to reassign and deploy me, directly from the Commander in Chief.

"I will give this to Major Taren when I leave." He almost sounded bored.

"Where did you get this, it's real!" I could hardly believe what I was seeing; my eyes were bouncing all over the page trying to find a flaw to prove this was all one elaborate joke, I couldn't find anything wrong.

"Of course it's real. I stopped by and got the orders before I came here," He replied calmly.

My eyes darted toward the closed door. "You just walked up to the President?"

"Well I can do magic you know." He had a mischievous look about him.

"Why?" _Why would he do that? Why would he go to that much trouble for a complete stranger?_

"Why, what?" Mr. Rowe asked completely oblivious to what I was thinking.

"Why do you want me so bad? First the letter with personal remarks, then a personal visit and you obviously know my situation, you were prepared for that. I am not dumb. Why do you want me? What do you want me to do for you?" I tried to keep my tone from sounding like I was acquiescing him, but it was a losing battle with these questions.

"Mr. Cooper, I can not answer that question. You will have to ask Mr. Potter that question, I am merely doing Mr. Potter a personal favour."

"I need proof," I told him. _It was plain and simple; I wouldn't believe it until I saw it._

"Alright, what would like to see?" The rose colour returned to Mr. Rowe's cheeks as he chuckled.

"Surprise me," I told him darkly.

Mr. Rowe sat there staring at me from his chair; his face was suddenly blank and tense with concentration. I still hadn't figured out where or how he got that chair. After a minute I began wondering if he was going to do something, or if he was taking a nap. I felt a drop of water hit me on the head, as I looked up I had a personal rain cloud let loose a downpour on me.

Mr. Rowe sat across from me dry as a bone, smiling at me. I guess I deserved it, I was a bit rude to him, and I was questioning his beliefs or powers or whatever it was. But I was still wet, and while I can tolerate it, I don't enjoy it.

While I may not enjoy working in an office, I don't appreciate it when a stranger ruins a weeks worth of my work either. Personal rain clouds inside a personnel records office are not a good thing.

Suddenly the air in the room tensed and a lightening bolt jumped from a cloud a struck Mr. Rowe's arm. He yelped in pain and the storm cloud vanished at the same instant, but the feeling in the air lagged behind for a few moments.

"Boy, you don't need any more proof, just training, that hurt," Mr. Rowe exclaimed.

"That was real lightening?" I was curious more than shocked that I did something like that. Sure, I wasn't happy with him, didn't mean I want to electrocute him.

"Not as powerful, but yes, and the lightening bolt was all you."

"Sorry about that, I didn't mean to do that, but I don't like to be rained on," I told him as I tried to dry some of the papers on my desk. He simply pulled out a stick and gave it a sharp flick. The papers became dry as a bone instantly.

"Does that answer any doubts?"

"Yes, so the lightening, the electrical detonators going off to soon, my hair not changing and the other things, they are all magic?"

"That's right, just different forms, the school can help you keep everything under control and hone your skills so that you can change your hair among other things."

I turned the letter over in my hand. There was something odd about what was said, so I checked it again.

"Mr. Rowe, it says here that both my father and mother are full blood wizards. Why didn't my mother tell me any of this?"

"I can not answer for her, but maybe she didn't want to frighten you with the information."

"If my father was a wizard, then why did he die when I was young? Why couldn't he save himself?" _Knowledge is power, why would he let himself be killed if he could over power the enemy._

"Brandon, being a wizard does not make a person immortal. They can die just as easy as anyone else. A plane crash, dark curse, bullet, or a disease, it's all the same."

"I- you said you were going to drop those orders off no matter what?"

"Yes, I did."

It really was my decision if I wanted to go and learn. I was getting out of this office regardless. It would be nice to just get out of here and forget about this meeting, but what if something happened again and I hurt someone?

Might as well cut to the chase and talk to the man in charge, "I will need to talk to Mr. Potter," I told Mr. Rowe.

"Perfectly understandable. Would you like to include your mother in the meeting?"

"We don't get along at all, I am more than capable of making my own choices." My voice had a bit of edge to it. Maybe it was because I was thinking about my mother, or maybe it was the way he called me son or implied other people should help me make my choices in life.

"I didn't mean anything of the sort. I just think it would be a good idea if she was there, you could get some answers from her also."

"Alright."

"I will come back tomorrow morning at nine to take you."

"And how will we get my mother there, she lives in North Dakota. That is a bit of a trip for one day."

"Magic my dear boy." And with a slight pop he was gone. I settled back into my chair and spun the wheel on the old rotary phone, Mother's just going to be thrilled to hear from me.

As Mr. Rowe approached the next stop he voiced his thoughts. "Odd, two in the same town, I wonder if they know each other or their secret."

Mr. Rowe showed up promptly at nine as I was walking down the hallway.

"What reason am I to give for not working today?"

"Tell them there is an alligator in your office."

Mr. Rowe stopped me when I went to open the door to get some papers for Private Benson.

"I wouldn't open that door," He said with a twinkle in his eye, and I couldn't help but laugh.

As I walked out the door, I told Private Benson I was taking the day off and about the alligator.

A minute later and feeling very disoriented, like I had just gotten my body sucked through a straw. I had successfully side-along Apparated into my mother's living room. She was sitting there watching the news channel, waiting for us.

"Good afternoon, Mrs. Benton."

"Good afternoon-"

"Rowe, Thomas Rowe." He provided his name politely.

"Well, I must say this is quite unexpected, Mr. Rowe. I'd given up on that world before, and when his eleventh birthday passed without a letter, I wasn't bothered by it." My mother's attitude was changing. She had forgotten the kindness and was getting straight to business in a cold hard fashion. She had just said something didn't happen in my life that probably should have and she wasn't bothered by it.

"I understand, everything will be explained in due time."

"Mr. Rowe, I need to talk with _Mr. Potter _about a few things before I will even understand what is going on," my mother demanded.

"I could answer some of your questions now, if you would like me to," he replied.

She objected to his idea, "I don't think you can, so lets go ahead and go to this meeting, Mr. Rowe."

"I am a trained wizard, Mrs. Benton, and know enough about Green Raven to answer the basic questions." I could see Mr. Rowe's pleasantness had reached the limit and he was simply trying to reason with the moody woman.

"I am sure you are, but the fact that my late husband was a pure-blood wizard and I didn't know it doesn't fall under that category, does it, Mr. Rowe?" she retorted.

"Well… no, it certainly doesn't." He wasn't afraid, but I could tell he was trying to figure the situation out in his head.

I could see Mr. Rowe preparing himself to leave when my mother cut him short.

"One more thing, how did... Potter ever become a headmaster? What little contact I had with him at school certainly didn't portray him as one to become a professor, much less a headmaster, regardless of the school." She wrongfully belittled him.

"I… well…" My mother's question seemed to have struck close to home and my mother offered him no mercy. After a few moments passed in silence, he tried again.

"I can't begin to explain everything to you, because there are things I don't fully understand. It's a long story that just ended a few years ago." His pleasantness had vanished into thin air. He remained polite, something that amazed me because by this time I would have been just as foul toward her as she was towards me.

"But you just said that you that you could answer my questions," she sneered.

Apparently my mother's words struck him to the core, probably stabbing a bit at his pride. 

"I know what I said, but you asked two of the very few questions I can't answer. Not because I do not want to answer them, but because I do not know the whole story. It is best to let those that know tell you so you don't have more questions in the end.

"We will be travelling by Portkey part of the way. Take a hold of this kettle."


	3. Chapter III Visiting Green Raven

_**Blue Eyes of a Black Wolf**_****

Chapter III. Visiting Green Raven. 

_Newly Revised_

The valley stretched farther than the eye could see. Chains of snow-capped mountains in the east and the west effectively blocked the Muggle world from sight, leaving an ancient town free of outside disturbances. However, that didn't mean it was a picturesque, dreamy valley. If a person could overlook the magical variants of wild animals, then the virgin forest that spotted the valley floor, the crystal clear and slightly cold rivers, and the small lakes could make one feel like he had been inserted into a canvas painting of the grand Rocky Mountains. But even a person wearing blinders would notice a herd of brown spotted Granians grazing near the lake and others soaring eastward above the tree tops.

There hadn't been a witch or wizard in the valley in over a hundred years before Harry Potter had arrived. When he arrived he began cleaning up the magical rubbish that had mutated and bred during that time, and it was no small task. Explosions were constantly rumbling out of an old two-story building marking Fred and George Weasley's progress of setting up a new branch of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. The Woodson family had moved into their new home a week ago. From a distance it looked like they were battling invisible Death Eaters in their backyard, but they were actually eradicating the wild garden area of anything that caused more danger or made a bigger nuisance of itself than knarls, horklumps, and garden gnomes. 

The town was bustling with improvement, but its large size and the state that it was in made it difficult to notice the new shop's owners who were preparing to start new businesses in Green Raven. Four new families were moving into Green Raven today. The Charleston's progress could be seen as Mr. Charleston was placing a few charms on the hedges. The other families were still doing a number of things inside their new homes, including cleaning draperies and charming hostile tables. Mr. Hodgson was promptly locking his cellar doors after he had escaped to safety. By the look of his tattered clothes and the red welts covering his exposed skin, his encounter with this cellar that had not been cleaned properly in ages was not friendly or pleasant.

Harry Potter controlled the magical wards that protected the vast valley from outside intrusion. He found numerous ancient spells in the prized book he had retrieved from the Room of Requirement. Harry was sure after reading the first few pages of the ancient book that the wizards that built the Green Raven Castle and the nearby town did not trust anyone outside of their own company, and didn't want to be bothered by anyone outside of there community. With the help of the ancient book, he chose a few spells to reinforce the protection of the valley. He effectively created a magic tunnel, which held a charm to turn back and unwelcome visitors, that had to be taken to reach the valley. This entrance and exit had wards and charms of their own that put Gringotts Wizarding Bank to shame.

I could tell that Mr. Rowe didn't enjoy travelling through the magical tunnel, and it was a completely new experience for my mother and me. The trip wasn't terribly long, lasting only a few seconds, but it felt like hours before we landed with an echoing thud in what appeared to be an average looking, but extremely large, cellar. The room was filled with boxes, shelves stuffed with tools, broken appliances pushed against a far wall, but it was the door that caught my eye. It was made of stone, and it had strange words carefully carved into it, along with a few odd looking pictures.

"The Headmaster has placed the highest security on this valley. You are in the safest location on the North American continent. The staff at the school is composed of many well trained professors, one expert healer and numerous workers who take care of the grounds and the magical animals…" Mr. Rowe had been keeping mine and my mother's attention with his little speech, until he opened the stone door that lead us out of the cellar. His bit about magical animals was uncannily right on track because a grey winged horse with brown spots chose that moment to fly down in front of the cellar entrance.

The sight of a winged horse caused my mother and me to jump back further into the cellar room.

"Those aren't real! They can't be." I was completely amazed, out of all the fairy tales and all the old mythology. Everything that seemed too absurd to believe and I just saw a living, breathing animal that resembled Pegasus!

"I assure you, they are very real. Now, if you would follow me, we can ride down to the castle."

As we followed him up the stairs, my mother, being who she was, voiced her concerns and opinions. "Hopefully we are not riding on one of those dreadful beasts?" My mother sounded a bit disgusted at the thought of riding a winged horse.

"I bet riding one would be fun!" I held the opposite opinion of my mother, as usual. I would enjoy riding it, so long as it wasn't any more uncomfortable than a regular horse.

"I don't think that would be a wise thing to try today. You have to build up trust with Granians before they will let you ride them. Sometimes it can take months before they will even let you touch them. Ah, here comes Mr. Jackson with the carriage now. I hope you don't mind an old-fashioned carriage ride, but it is a rather long walk from here." He seemed to have recovered from my mother's sniping earlier as he was as jolly and cheerful as ever.

Mr. Rowe wasn't joking. As I looked down the valley, I could see Mr. Jackson coming up a long, narrow dirt road. The valley stretched further than I could see, the end seeming to just fade into a blue haze. A magnificently towering castle was resting close to the mountains on the western side of the valley, next to a stand of fir trees and a small lake. A town was nestled into a crook in the river that wound its way down the valley. The town was filled with mismatched buildings of wood and stone, some of them with a medieval appearance, others resembling a summer cottage home. It was all pleasant to see, but I couldn't help but notice the abundance of magical creatures living here.

"Are there dragons here?" I was curious and a bit concerned, considering I could be living here in a few months.

"Dragons, no. I am almost sure that no dragons live in this particular area, but the Headmaster would know for certain if a dragon lived here in the valley." I noticed he sounded a bit shocked that there would be dragons here. It made me wonder just how many were left, if any at all.

"I am certain I saw flames come out those rocks, over there," I said, pointing toward a rough-looking patch of rocks and trees higher up the eastern mountains.

"It could have been anything; this valley has been left alone for close to a century, and a good portion of the magical animals have been able to effectively crossbreed. Some of the results aren't pretty, but others have proven to be useful." His positive outlook seemed to never end. I was amazed that he could find something good to say about dangerous magical creatures crossbreeding.

The ride down to the castle was uneventful compared to the horse swooping down on us earlier. It was just a ride down a bumpy dirt road and over a wooden bridge that looked like it was going to collapse if the wind blew wrong. I think the bridge had some magic involved in its structural supports.

The Green Raven Castle was an imposing structure even with the majestic mountains in its background. The castle had numerous towers, one in each corner and others randomly placed along the rooftop. The nearest river was at least two hundred meters away, so the only thing the castle was missing was a drawbridge. In its place was a large and sturdy lattice-work gate that was raised and lowered from the fourth story. The builders obviously had the horseback riders in mind when they built the entrance. Apparently one barrier wasn't enough for them. Behind the lattice-work gate were two giant doors that fit perfectly into the large archway. I could see where the castle had undergone recent repairs and where in past years it had been added to. It was almost like a timeline with the more advanced and detailed work looking a bit newer than the ancient sturdy, basic structure. The style and architecture seemed to change the further I looked upon the castle, they had definitely added onto the castle as the years progressed.

As if the doors recognized the carriage coming down the road, the gate began rising up into the castle and the giant doors slowly swung open into a courtyard. Just as the carriage cleared the entrance, the gate fell with a thundering boom, causing the horses to jolt the carriage forward, and making my mother and I jump involuntarily.

"I am sorry. I knew I was forgetting something. The place hasn't been used in years and some of the doors are being rather stubborn and the engineers still haven't worked out a way to slow down the descent of that gate. It makes quite a racket if you're not expecting it."

He didn't need to apologize for the crashing gate. I was amazed at what I saw. I was in middle of a courtyard that would rank right up with those in the finest castles in England or Europe.

"So, do you like it? You're one of the first students to see the castle. I imagine I will have to arrange plenty more visits, I never realized how many young witches and wizards North America had. I hope this poor castle can survive the years of abuse it's about to be subjected to." 

"I couldn't imagine anything that looked this real unless I went back in time." Something about my statement had struck Mr. Rowe as humorous because he was chucking softly.

"In a sense you have gone back in time, none of the Muggle technologies such as electricity work here. The lack of those advancements is more than made up for with our magical abilities however. If you would follow me now, I will show you to the Headmaster's Office."

I had a good idea where the idea of a human-sized maze came from now. I couldn't remember how to get out of the castle if my life depended upon it. It was a few dozen left and rights with a good number of going up stairs and twice going down a set of stairs and somewhere in the mix we crossed an elevated walkway that went down the side of a very large and barren room.

As we travelled the length of a brightly lit hallway, four suits of armour that stood outside a regular looking oak door suddenly drew their swords and took up fighting stances. After a mixture of squeaking and creaking that came from them, a voice seemed to instantly fill the air; it was a deep, demanding tone that resembled an aged commander of war. "Hello, Thomas."

I swung my head, watching each suit of armor, but none of them had moved. The voice continued on; "Your companions are Helen Benton and Brandon Cooper, I presume?" I noticed the door had unnatural red tint to it and upon closer inspection, the wood grains showed a crude face that was moving slightly with each word. The damn door was speaking to Mr. Rowe. The door, whether it was enchanted or worse, was possessed by a deceased witch or wizard, and seemed pleasant enough but firm in its actions.

"Yes, they are invited guests of Headmaster Potter." At this statement, the enchanted suits of armor lowered their blades.

"Very well, everything is in order. He is in his office, third door on the right." The talking door swung open to reveal a narrow hallway but continued to speak, "Don't worry, Brandon, the knights are just a bit jumpy, they haven't gotten use to all the activity in the corridors yet…" The door seemed to act as a greeter, guard, and lord over the suits.

"Well, this is where I will leave you; as the door said, the Headmaster is in his office, third door on the right. Good day."

As the door said, Christ, what is going to happen next?

As he was about to turn the corner of the hallway, I hollered out, "Wait, I forgot the way back to the courtyard!"

"Let the Calvary guide you and be very careful if you meet up with a Re'em," he said cryptically.

Who was the Calvary? What was a Re'em doing in a castle, or better yet, what was a Re'em?

"Well, that wasn't very nice of him, to just leave us here." She sounded a bit sore and put off by his parting statement. He looked over to see his mother looking cross. 

"Mother, he probably has a lot of things to do and it will be fun trying to find our way out of here." I tried to use reason and logic with my mother but it seldom worked. It seldom worked on any woman I knew.

"Fun!" she cried incredulously

"Okay, maybe it won't be fun for you, but it will be interesting. How many chances do you get to wander around a castle?"

I almost jumped out of my skin when I heard the door, which had now closed behind us, speak with a voice of years of patience that rumbled and echoed through the enclosed hallway. "Brandon, the Headmaster is waiting on you. It is not wise to keep important people waiting." 

"My mother's important, too, you know!" Honestly she is important. I just never said how important she was. Fortunately my mother couldn't read my mind and she was smiling at me.

"I am sure she is," the door said with laughter that filled the hallway. I was beginning to wonder just how far the door's capabilities went. It seemed to be able to read my thoughts.

As I raised my hand to knock on the door I heard a rumbling voice, "Enter."

The sight that met my eyes was not what I was expecting. It was strange enough to cause me to stop in the doorway. With a polite shove from my mother reminding me to keep walking, I stumbled into the room.

The center of the room was occupied with an old and highly polished oak desk. There was something familiar about the man sitting behind the desk. I just couldn't place where I had seen him before. He wasn't even attempting to hide his curiosity, but what was so interesting about me or was it my mother? There was a middle-aged man who looked worn and tired sitting in an armchair next to a bookshelf that had a strange assortment of things on its shelves, none of which were books. On the other side of the bookcase was an exact replica of the chair, only smaller, almost like it was meant for a child. I could see the back of a haggard, grizzly looking old man. He was standing in front of one of the many windows, looking out across the grounds.

The middle-aged man broke the odd moment. "Good afternoon, Mr. Cooper and Mrs. Benton." 

"Good afternoon, sir."

A low grow sounding voice came from the man standing in front of the window, "Normally we do not hold these meetings. So you would do well to pay close attention."

No sense in drawing this out with banter of formalities.

"Yes sir, the letter said that you took a personal interest in me. Is that why you agreed to hold this meeting?"

I expected a simple yes or no answer and then a long discussion. To say I was shocked when he turned around was an understatement. He was laughing, well I think he was laughing, it sounded like an evil cackling. He had a face that resembled scared warped wood and his cloak swung about him revealing a wooden leg. But the eye was what really bothered me: it was spinning like mad.

"No need to be frightened lad, I am on the good side. I will be one of your professors starting in August." That voice was enough to make anybody look around their surroundings searching for an enemy.

The middle-aged man gestured for us to take a seat on a hideous brown couch. "Professor Moody isn't a very outgoing person. You will have to excuses his bluntness. I am Professor Lupin and this young man is the headmaster of Green Raven, Mr. Potter."

Mr. Potter didn't look more than a few years older than me. A low growl met my ears, "Shut your mouth, boy."

I snapped my jaw closed and left it that way to keep myself from saying something stupid.

"A bit of a shock, you probably thought Professor Moody or Professor Lupin was the Headmaster. But certain well-placed and knowledgeable wizards and witches think I can handle this much-needed position. Now, Mr. Rowe mentioned that you had some questions for me." He seemed be able to answer the very questions that were floating through my head with just the right amount of information. All three of them were definitely British. I could tell that easily by their voices; their accents were a lot stronger than my mother's.

Before I could begin to string two thoughts into an intelligent sentence, my mother spoke.

"Where is…. Oh, I forgot the prat's first name, where is Potter? When I read the letter I was expecting him, not a young boy." My mother was always demanding information; on occasion, she would try to sound nice about it and be polite, I wish this would have been one of those times. 

I saw Mr. Potter stiffen in his chair; he was trying to calm himself from my mother's words. Apparently Professor Moody didn't like my mother's tone or the fact that she called the Headmaster a boy. He gave her a look of disgust and I only understood bits of his snarled speech. "Dead, you stupid…do you some good…don't call him a boy…you're a poor excuse for a witch…It would benefit you to keep your mouth shut from now on." I had no problem understanding the last part. I could feel my mother draw back and press further into the couch.

"Like I said, he is not very outgoing. Do you have anymore questions?" Professor Lupin asked, looking pointedly at my mother.

"I… umm… yes." My mother was have a difficult time with voicing her question, after a few seconds she composed herself and asked, "Why didn't Charlie Cooper tell me he was a pureblood wizard?"

Professor Moody was quick to point out the obvious answer. I could also tell he really didn't want to be having this meeting. "Maybe because he wasn't one, you fool."

"If Charlie Cooper is not the boy's father by blood, then who is?" my mother questioned them like they held the all-knowing book.

"I would hope you could remember who?" Professor Lupin's questioning manner revealed that he was slightly displeased with my mother's actions.

She didn't help matters by opening her mouth, "If I could, I wouldn't be asking, now would I?"

I watched the old, haggard man search through a wall of shelves before pulling out a file and handing it to Professor Lupin and Mr. Potter. I could see their eyes scanning the top page and then a look of shock came over both of them. Mr. Potter stood and I could see his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard. "If you can't remember then it no longer matters to you."

"Yes it does, I want to know who!"

I watched as Mr. Potter and Professor Lupin looked at each other and then the file.

"Who is my father?" It wasn't a command, but a request. They seemed to ignore my mother's demanding attitude, but I hoped they would give me an answer.

Mr. Potter stopped his pacing in front of Professor Moody and handed the file to him. When he saw the file, his electric blue eye began to survey me from head to toe.

"Tell him," he grunted.

Mr. Potter cleared his throat and took one last glance at the paper before he spoke. "Mr. Cooper, you are the son of Sirius Black. How this came to be is a mystery to all of us in this room, unless you know?" As he finished he looked directly at my mother and added, "We need to know." He wasn't asking my mother, he was commanding her to tell them how it happened.

"I… um… well…" My mother's forward manner was gone in a flash and she clearly didn't feel comfortable about what she had to say.

"Woman, now is not the time to be withholding information or to be embarrassed about your past. What's done is done. You need to tell us how and why a man kept his best friends from finding out he had a son." Moody's day hadn't started out in the best way and Mrs. Benton wasn't helping the matter any.

"He didn't know," my mother said quietly.

"Pardon me!" It looked like someone had just told Professor Lupin that alligators were docile creatures, he simply wasn't having any of it, until he had detailed answers.

"I thought the child was Charlie Cooper's."

"How did this happen?" Mr. Potter inquired. 

I could tell she was trying to remember something, she never could break the habit of cocking her head to the right and staring two feet in front of her. After a few moments she spoke, sounding like she was three years old and had been caught stealing a cookie. 

"I was invited to a party and it didn't take long before things got out of hand. After that I left the magical world for other reasons. A few days later I left England completely and met Charlie." 

"Sir, did you know Sirius, my father?" I stumbled upon the man's name - he was my father. Somehow the feeling that swept through the room wasn't a happy joyous feeling of a son uniting with his father for the first time. It almost felt like a funeral. I could tell I had asked a delicate question, as they stared at me for a while before anyone moved. I had a feeling that I wasn't going to like the answer that I was about to get.

Professor Lupin stood and walked over to the window, while Professor Moody had taken his seat. He was still looking out the window when he answered. "Sirius Black, Mr. Potter's father, another man, and I became good friends during our school years. Sirius was wrongfully imprisoned, he had no trial, but he managed to escape after twelve horrid years. He is the only person in our wizarding history to ever escape from prison without outside help. His escape was bittersweet in the end. He was a wanted criminal so he couldn't lead a normal life. After a few short years he met his end by the means of a magical object." I looked around the room trying to reach a conclusion from what I was just told when I noticed my mother was looking at the ailing Professor Lupin like she was trying to remember just exactly who he was.

"'Met his end by the means of a magical object' that means he is…" All the joyous thoughts that had raced through my mind moments before were brutally ripped out with the conclusion that I was coming too.

A growling responded.

"It means that his body disappeared after falling through a highly dangerous and apparently deadly magical veil."

My father was dead. Well it wasn't a new concept to me, just a shock to learn that I never knew my biological father. My thoughts were broken by Mr. Potter's chuckling. How could anyone in their right mind laugh while others spoke of your dead father?

"I suppose in some odd way, you and I are related," he said once he had finished laughing.

"How is that?" I questioned him. 

"Sirius was my godfather. I am not legally responsible for you, but since you are Sirius' son, I will make sure you are headed in the right direction, if you want me to." Mr. Potter sounded sincere in his proposition.

"I wouldn't have a single problem with that. I don't know a soul in the magical world, besides my mother. I…" Did I really know my mother? She has been showing me sides that I haven't seen at all.

"Is there something else on your mind?"

"Since Sirius Black was my father, I would like to take the last name of Black, if that is considered proper and the right thing to do." From the moment the words left my mouth I knew there was no going back and I had started something that wouldn't end well. Out of the corner of my eye I saw my mother snap her head towards me. The look on her face reminded me of a hawk preparing to strike a lazy sparrow. I could almost feel the fury that was radiating off of her.

"It is your choice, whether it is proper or not doesn't matter." Professor Lupin seemed to offer the wisest and most tactful advice on this sensitive subject.

"From what y'all have said, he was a good man that was wronged terribly and I am his son. I couldn't think of doing anything else."

The solemn mood was broken by my mother's outburst.

"You… after raising you, this is how you treat me!"

My mouth loosened and my brain took a temporary vacation. "I never did like your newest husband, Benton, and you won't change my mind." 

"You bastard!" she screamed in frustration, not paying attention to her words.

"Yes Mother, because of you, that is what I am." As I sat there and noticed the shocked look on my mother's face, my brain returned from its vacation and I realized exactly what I had said.

Professor Lupin was very quick on the uptake and quickly headed off a long and most likely loud argument. "Professor Moody was correct in saying that we normally do not hold such meetings. Our time is limited and we cannot be interrupted again."

When she didn't take the politely hidden message, Moody lifted his gaze, both eyes, to her. "He is asking you to leave the room so we can talk to the boy alone."

My mother exited the room in a huff, slamming the door behind her.

For the second time that day I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard the door speak again, but this time it wasn't pleasant, it was a bit angry. "Oww, woman. That hurt!"

I could see Professor Lupin shuffling through the papers in the file. "It says here that you are undecided about attending Green Raven."

It seemed that Mr. Rowe's plan of escape was actually Professor Lupin's masterpiece. The aged man explained everything in the same fashion as Mr. Rowe had before, with more detail this time. I would be leaving on the next possible plane for the middle-east and would be picked up by Alastor Moody as soon as possible, to make sure that I didn't become a causality. We worked out as much as the details as possible but for some it, we were simply going to have to wing it. With that task out of the way we moved on to other more interesting matters. I'd kill somebody to be normal for a change.

"Mr. Cooper, ah sorry, Mr. Black, have you ever been seriously hurt before in an accident?" Mr. Potter inquired.

That's a strange, off the wall question to ask me.

"No, sir."

"Have you ever run out of energy before?"

"What do you mean?" 

"Have you gotten completely exhausted like all you wanted to do was sleep for an entire week?"

"A time or two, but not without a reason, sir. What is all this about?" I had no clue what this was about unless they were starting to give me a medical background check and a physical examination. But why would they need that?

"I am just checking the facts against an old rumour." Mr. Potter replied in an off hand tone.

"What was it about?" How could I have rumors about me in a world I didn't know existed until today?

"A few years ago a rumour surfaced that I had a second in the war."

Mr. Potter wasn't making much sense. "Second what? In what war?" 

"A magical war that ended seven years ago. A second is a person that will take another person's place in a magical duel should the first die. But as you can see, we are here seven years later with the war finished."

Curiosity got the better of me. "What exactly was the rumor?"

Professor Moody shot Mr. Potter a look of warning and Mr. Potter just shrugged his shoulders.

"That my second had protection and energy charms placed on him after his birth."

"So I wasn't supposed to be your second?"

"Actually, you were."

I was supposed to be a second in a magical duel. I wonder if they fight with swords…. It's him!

"Mr. Potter, do you own a sword?"

"Err… Yes, I do…Oh, yes. Two of my friend's idea of a joke, to send every magical person a miniature figure of me holding Gryffindor's sword and enchanting the figure to speak and shout taunts."

"I couldn't figure out exactly who it was, until just now I thought it was William Wallace. Mine didn't say anything, it just kept vanishing on me."

"It took me a week before I figured out what was going on and another week to actually catch the thing and hex it to oblivion," Professor Lupin said.

"You hexed me to oblivion? I am hurt that you would treat me that way," Mr. Potter said while a look of mock sadness crossed his face.

"You shouldn't feel that way, besides I will get rid of the one in your study if you want me to."

"It's no use, I have already tired. He moves around like the others, but Fred and George told me he is a custom model. He has a wider variety of sayings and is prone to challenging me to a duel when I am in a hurry."

The flames began to flicker in the small fireplace and I remembered what I had seen earlier in the day. Suddenly a voice yelled out, "Harry, are you there? Oh, pardon me, I'll check back later." The elderly witch's face vanished from the fire as quick as it appeared.

What was that poor woman's head doing in the fire!

Following Mr. Rowe's suggestion I asked about what I saw earlier. "Mr. Potter, are there dragons here?"

"I had a dragon keeper here the other day looking around to make sure there weren't any. He found a few signs, but didn't actually see one. It could have been any sort of creature considering how many have crossbred. So nobody really knows for sure, until we see one."

Professor Lupin stood up and nodded his head toward the door. I took the cue and I rose to leave the room when a thought hit me, well more like a person's name. Elizabeth Taren. "Who can I tell about this?" 

Professor Moody was offering the most sensible answer. "Your mother obviously knows, but do you honestly think anyone is going to believe you? That would take a large amount of trust and faith, son." 

"What about my girlfriend?"

"Same goes for her, too; do you think she will believe you?" Professor Lupin answered.

"It doesn't matter if she believes you or not in the beginning. Do you love her enough to marry her?" I had grown accustomed to Professor Moody's growling voice but his attitude was confusing at times.

"I… umm…." No. It was fun but it wasn't what I wanted, it wasn't right. She would never believe me in a hundred years even if I had proof. What does marriage have to do with this? 

"I thought not, you'd best tell her today." Professor Moody was really beginning to get on my nerves with his cold, hard truth.

"We will contact you when it's time to purchase your supplies for school." Mr. Potter placed several files back on the shelf, but left one remaining open on the desk.

I was beginning to think that Professor Moody was more like a grizzly bear than a human, but he had just shown a trace of humour, in fact he was being sarcastic, but that was beside the point.

What was that war about that ended seven years ago? What was a British man doing running an American school? Why was I a second in a war that I didn't even know about until today? What was Mr. Potter laughing at earlier when he told me we were sort of related?

I looked around the room before I spoke to Mr. Potter. "There are a lot of unanswered questions I have, but we have run out of time, like you said earlier."

"Are those personal questions or questions about the past, which could possibly be in a history book or two?" Mr. Potter seemed to asking out of genuine interest.

How should I know what is in a magical history book? The ol' shotgun approach, then. "A little bit of both, I guess."

"Remus, do you have a spare copy of The Modern History of Magic?" Professor Moody asked, looking at Professor Lupin with his normal eye.

Professor Lupin began chuckling. "A spare copy, I daresay I have a few."

Mr. Potter must have seen the confused look on my face, so he began to explain. "Professor Lupin is teaching a class this year on top of his other duties. It is Modern History of Magic, a required course for all of the students. It will help explain what has been happening in the magical world for the past three and a half decades. Since the subject is not taught in the other schools, we had to buy the books straight from the publisher. An entire room is nearly full of just that one book, understandably, because there are so many of you." 

"Why did you take a personal interest in me, sir?" I asked him, not in a mocking tone, but out of curiosity and respect, he had obviously done something great to get the position of headmaster and deserved my respect.

"I'll let you know in due time. Don't get discouraged, now is just not the time. You need to learn a bit more before you will truly understand. I will not keep information from you, that mistake was made with me and terrible things happened." I noticed his voice seemed to break on those last three words and Mr. Lupin took over for him.

"It's a stroke of luck that you have fought Muggle wars." I could hear something different in Professor Moody's voice as he spoke. The deathly growl was fading into a serious appreciation.

I wanted to voice my question about why it was a stroke of luck, but so far they hadn't been very forthcoming with detailed answers. I would probably be told to wait until later, so I just kept my mouth shut.

"It will help you in the future. I will send an owl with the history book and maybe a few other books you might enjoy. Make sure you read those books, cover to cover wouldn't be a bad idea either."

"Yes, sir."

"Your mother has grown far past impatient outside and has already left to go to the courtyard." I was slowly getting use to Moody's growl-like voice, but how he knew who was and wasn't outside the room was a mystery to me."

"Yes, sir. See you in August."

"Earlier than that, you can't get very far in school without supplies," Mr. Potter replied with a hint of amusement.

"Thank you, sir."

------------------------------

After the door was shut, with Mr. Black well on his way, Moody voiced his thoughts.

"He is going to be a bit like you, Harry."

"Yes, I just hope he doesn't make as many mistakes I did," I said gravely.

"Unfortunate events happen; their deaths were not your doings. You had a responsibility to uphold, a very large one and you did well." Remus could always see things in the best light.

"Remus, I finished it, yes. But some people are no longer here to enjoy the blissful moments of peace."

Moody's attitude took a turn from dormant to raging. "How many bloody times does someone have to tell you that their deaths are not your fault!" 

"That boy has no father!" I yelled back at him.

"Why don't you look in the mirror, Mr. High and Mighty?" he barked back at me.

"You…you… you bastard!" In my narrow-sighted rage I didn't notice the miniature model Hungarian Horntail take flight and hide on top of a portrait of a red haired man, who was shaking his head slowly.

"I may be," he smiled at me and his attempt at humour wasn't lost on me. I just chose to ignore it and he continued, "but your parents acted of free will, everyone, and I mean everyone, that fought on our side acted of free will. They wanted to fight against him; it was their choice. Now what is your argument against that, Headmaster Potter?" 

"I don't have one," I mumbled.

"I didn't hear you, Headmaster." The man was mocking me!

"I said I bloody don't have one. Are you satisfied?"

"No!" he thundered. He was arguing with me about my answer now, the same answer he wanted me to say.

"No?" I questioned him.

"I want you to finally come to the understanding that their deaths are not your fault." He was still mad but his volume had come down a notch.

"I was, I am. It's just this boy doesn't have a father, damn it. Remus, why are you just sitting there? I thought you would have backed me up." Logic and reason were winning and my steam was slowly tapering off.

"Because I agree with Mad-Eye and before you go off on me, I want to tell you why without interruption. We have had enough of those for one day." He didn't exactly sound calm but he wasn't a thundering, half-crazed ex-Auror either.

"Alright."

"There is always going to be darkness, this new development has clearly shown us that. If we refuse to fight darkness, it automatically wins. From your perspective, the only things that drive you to fight the darkness are Ginny, Ron and Hermione. From your parents' perspective, they were fighting in hopes that times would be peaceful and calm when you grew up. Just like all the parents of small children, they wanted theirs to be happy and safe.

"Things do not always work out as planned, agreements can not be reached and wars follow. Good people die in wars, people who shouldn't die. People who have every right to live long, colourful lives die early. They are also willing to trade that live for fighting for what they believe in, a good cause.

"Your parents were good people and they would not conform to ideals that they didn't believe were right. The only reason they went into hiding was because of you. If you had not been born they would have had the same chances of living as the other Aurors of that time and those chances were very, very low.

"It doesn't do any good to dwell on what we cannot have. You would be better off appreciating what you have and let those people know how you feel. You can help this boy in more ways than I can tell you. It's not your fight, just like it wasn't Dumbledore's fight but you can help him and guide him back to the path if he falters."

His speech made sense in the end. I knew and understood everything he said. I just didn't want to accept parts of it as true, right now. I watched Remus study a painting of rolling hills and medieval knights riding horses. The subject matter had changed slightly but it was still connected. Remus was now talking to both Mad-Eye and me. 

"All three of us know the beginning and we know the end that we desire. We need to work out how we can achieve it and he must be told soon enough. Any ideas on the matter…"


	4. To Be A Wolf

Author's Notes:

Hanyoch An ancient informal word of British or Germanic origin. Meaning, an unruly child.  
Tunits came before the Inuits and are believed to have killed off masses of Inuits before they met their vast numbers dwindled to almost nothing. Inuits are ancient Eskimos for those that are wondering. A good deal, but not all of my research was obtained here The end of the song is _Magic Carpet Ride_ by Steppenwolf. Oh and while I am it, this is fanfiction, Mrs. Rowling does own a good number of the things related to Harry Potter in this tale of mine. I switiched the rating back to Professors just to be on the safe side.

**Blue Eyes of a Black Wolf**

Chapter IV.

Part I. To be a Wolf 

I was part of a large, nervous and agitated group of young adults milling around Calbert's Cottage waiting for - well, nobody knew what we were waiting for. The various staff members that had guided us through the tunnel had just told us to wait around the cottage and then they disappeared back into the cellar of Calbert's Cottage.

I thought I had gone mad and was seeing visions when the Headmaster appeared before my very eyes. He gave me an encouraging smile and left the shade of the aspen tree to address the gathering crowd.

"Your journey of a thousand miles awaits you," he said and swept his arm in the general direction of the road, continuing, "We have a short walk to take, please follow me." And with that Headmaster Potter set off walking down the road towards Green Raven Castle with the students following him at his side and behind him.

The mid morning sun was being blocked by the passing clouds and I had just started my way down the road when I heard a low voice to my left.

"You're Brandon Black, right?"

I turned to see an elderly man wearing an odd-looking set of robes.

"Yes."

"I am Professor Munro. The Headmaster wants you to make sure that everyone is on their way to the castle and to politely push along the stragglers." 

"Yes, sir, do I have any bait to work with?"

I could see confusion fade across Professor Munro's face, he was probably thinking about fishing bait.

"What do you mean?" he asked

"Something to make them get up off their lazy--. Something to motivate them, sir, an incentive to make them walk quicker."

"Food and a place to sit down, will that work?"

"Yes, sir."  
Through the course of the walk I learned a bit about Professor Munro. He had three grown children and a grandchild on the way. I had read the books that Professors Moody and Lupin had given me but I still had a few questions that he was kind enough to answer. He did spend a good deal of time explaining how the students were going to be divided into houses based on their traits, habits and personalities but he would never say how they were going to accomplish the sorting of the students. All he would say is, "I am a Bear and know only Bears."

I wasn't one to question the judgment as to why I was the one that pushed everyone along. I was just as glad as everyone else to reach Green Raven Castle although it wasn't nearly as tiring a walk for me as it was for others.

The earth shook slightly as a thunderous booming filled the air. The engineers still hadn't been able to fix the gate. The courtyard looked like it had been taken out of a dream…well, maybe not exactly a dream. The late August temperature was pleasantly cool and it seemed that everything was green, but there was no denying the fact that there was a small stable hidden away in the corner. The stench of the manure was enough to keep us from idling outside longer than necessary.

Everyone had come to a standstill in the hallways and at the same time the Headmaster's voice could be heard down the entire length of the different hallways that we were standing in. "I know all of you are anxious to sit and eat after the stroll that we have taken, but it will take a few minutes to divide all of you."

A few minutes turned into half an hour and half an hour passed into boredom. The boredom was broken by the sporadic movements of the line. I finally made it up to the doors that led into Thorfinn Hall, according to the intricate script above the doors. To say the hall was enormous would have been a joke, you could have put a house inside it! Rows upon rows of long wooden tables filled the hall. Above every fourth table the banners that hung from the ceiling changed. The ceiling was as colorful as a rainbow - granted this rainbow had wooden rafters and seven unique pictures of different animals mixed in with it.

My attention was brought back down closer, much closer, waist high in fact, to me when I heard a small gruff voice say, "He's the last one and a wild-looking one at that!" Before me were seven creatures. Overgrown Impish nightmares in some ways, they had bulging eyes and ears that looked like wings of a bat. Each creature wore a handmade robe-like garment of a different color, the same colors as the banners that hung from the ceiling and the ends of the tables. 

"Falcon," I caught a glimpse of blue as one on the far left cried out. I could only guess that this was how we were being sorted, hopefully he wasn't suggesting I was a bird. He may might have looked old but his eyesight shouldn't have been that bad.

"No, Bear," a creature resembling a monk with his brown garment, grumbled.  
"Definitely a Deer," a vibrantly yellow clad creature said.

"Obviously not! He'd be a Wolf." The little guy dressed in a dark green seemed shocked that the other had suggested I be put into Deer.

"Possibly, but I say Bison," a white-robed creature said.

"He has the brains for it, but he would be better off in Snake." Somehow the cunning look in his eye and the red robe matched him and his offer to put me into Snake, something I wasn't sure I wanted.

"Can you all not see he has a wild spirit, he belongs in Mustang." A smoke grey clad creature had a point, if you just looked as far as my physical appearance, I appeared to be the strangest hanyoch on the block.

The creature representing Bison spoke, "So we're all in agreement that he would do well in each of our divisions?" 

I heard a chorus follow of six aye's.

The one that recommended Snake looked at me and said, "Put him under the sword."

It was like flipping a switch, in a matter of two seconds I didn't think, I just acted on instinct. My foot was six inches away from connecting with the overgrown, hairy, ancient imp before my body completely froze by some means of magic. While I was stuck there, I realized that the creatures weren't going to attack me and at least twenty people were staring at me from their seats. 

"Yes, the sword, but we aren't going to kill him," the yellow-robed creature said, shooting a dark look at the first.

I was stuck, all I could do was observe as one of the creatures walked slowly down the length of the tables to a table that was raised and perpendicular to the other tables. I watched the creature talk to the Headmaster and saw the Headmaster walk over to a small side door and exit the hall. A few minutes later the Headmaster, with an ancient-looking sword in his right hand, entered the hall through the main doors that I crossed through earlier.

"Take the charm off of him."

I wound up taking half a step, skipping and doing an odd sort of half jump all in one in order to not fall down. Apparently the charm froze me but didn't drain the momentum that I had built up before.

"It seems that our dear respectable and slightly aged house-elves here haven't been around enough new people in the past twenty years and your traits, habits and personality are confusing them. We hope that this relic of Leif Erickson will help us out some in getting you sorted into the proper division of the students."

"What do I do with it, sir?" I asked.

"Just take a hold of it and we will all find out what happens," he said with a sly grin on his face.

As I took the sword from the Headmaster I noticed that etchings on the blade immediately began to appear and twist and form into the shape of a howling wolf. The Headmaster had seen the exact same thing. "It's a wolf that is —" Headmaster Potter's last word was drowned out as the sound of a howling wolf filled Thorfinn Hall. All the light chattering and talking that was going on ceased, heads were turning in search of the noise's source. Once the sword had stopped howling I handed it back to the Headmaster and stood there waiting. 

It was like some sort of contest had been going on and suddenly the three tables at the far left stood and cheered, whooping, hollering, and whistling. But I doubt they or anyone else even knew that the house-elves couldn't sort me until the sword let loose with that howl. As I approached the tables, my fellow students only redoubled their efforts in cheering and making general chaos. I was able to find an open seat next to an attractive girl and a few of the guys that I had met on the walk down to the castle. My rowdy housemates had enough sense to quiet down as Headmaster Potter, with sword in hand, walked up to the High table and turned to face us. 

"For those of you that do not know, I am Headmaster Potter. I will get to the introductions and speeches in a moment, but right now we shall eat." As the Headmaster took his seat at the center of the High table, the silver plates before us began to fill themselves with a wide variety of foods.

"That was awesome, man!" I heard a guy say as I was beginning to eat.

"Yeah, how did you do that?" another eagerly questioned me.

"I just grabbed a hold of the sword and it did its own thing. The house-elves couldn't decide on me, but his sword seemed to know right off the bat that I was a wolf."

As the meal progressed, my situation got more…interesting. All the guys were to trying to figure out ways to magically reproduce the howling sound and the girls, well, some of them were looking and some were staring at me, including one across the hall. The girl sitting next to me whispered into my ear, "I bet I could make you howl like that again."

I laughed and with a grin I said, "I bet you could, but not until I know your name."

"Katie." she replied.

"Brandon." 

"So?"

"I'll let you know later?"

I was saved from further interrogation when the Headmaster stood up. In a matter of a minute the Hall had fallen silent, after a few protests when the food disappeared from the plates.

"At this time I would like to introduce to you the staff of Green Raven Ruin Magical Establishment. Deputy Headmaster and Modern History of Magic instructor, Professor Lupin," he said, waving his hand to his left and Professor Lupin stood up.

"Our ever-changing Transfiguration instructor and Head of the Bear house, Professor Munro." Professor Munro stood up and waved.

The Headmaster went on through the introductions and I was slightly distracted by the girl sitting on my left and where her hand was going. But I was able to catch that the ever-cheerful Professor Moody was the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor as well as our Head of House.

"From time to time there will be various magical creatures on the grounds and I would advise you not to get too close unless you would like an adventure that may cause you to end up in the hospital wing. The caretaker for all of these animals is none other than my beautiful wife who is sitting here beside me and if you do happen to see a Re'em we would like to know immediately."

Curse that damn sword, I had to do something to get her to stop. I leaned back and spoke softly, "Katie, later."

"Alright."

As I was sitting back up I noticed a boy sitting at the next table over who was completely ignoring the Headmaster; he was just staring down at the table and occasionally throwing glances up at the Headmaster before he turned back to whatever he was reading.

"Life is a grand mystery. During my school years I could never let a mystery go unsolved, even when it didn't appear to be any of my business to begin with. None of those mysteries were ever solved easily or painlessly. So I tell you now that doing things on your own is encouraged. Just mind the rules as you go and be careful. I know that it is pointless to tell you to behave yourselves and to not get hurt, because I remember what my school years were like. I only have this one warning to give you. Leave the outside troubles where they are. Do not bring the strife and prejudice inside this castle or you will be expelled.

"You are free to mingle and talk with one another, the staff will be setting up a tour of the castle in a few moments. Enjoy yourself today because classes start tomorrow morning."

For the first time ever to be in the Headmasters chair in front of students, I now understood why Dumbledore had kept his speeches as short and simple as possible. Almost every staff member had left to do various last minute tasks, only four Professors were still seated, Lupin, Moody, Munro, and Mullen. We sat and looked down upon the conversing students.

"See, it's not as bad as you thought it would be. The students are willingly getting to know one another, even the ones in the other houses, see look at those two." Remus said, indicating a girl striding across the mess hall towards Brandon.

Lincoln Munro spoke up, "They look like they know one another…"

"Maybe that wasn't the best example to use, Remus." Moody said.

"Give them the chance to sort it out on their own. I have to go convince the great and absolute dunderhead of a wizard leader for this country that we aren't here to take over his precious continent," I said and exited the hall through the side door I had used earlier.

Back at the far Wolf table a young man with wild hair was in very touchy position. He had his arm around an athletic girl with short brown hair and a blonde was storming off back to whatever table she had come from. A shorter than average young man made his way over to Brandon from two tables over and began to talk to him.

"We haven't even been here a full day and you already got a girl slapping you. You make a pass at her or something?" The boy sounded shocked.

I shook my head. She is here. Oh. This isn't going to be pretty until I can talk to her.

"What'd you say to her?" I could tell he was trying to work out why a complete stranger would slap someone.

"I didn't say a word," I replied.

"Yeah right, come on, man, what did you say to her?"

"It's a long story, a stupid long story," I said, trying to let the matter just die off.

"If you ain't noticed, we got plenty of time." I could tell by his tone that he was curious and wasn't going to let this drop.

"We barely know each other." I tried reasoning with him.

"I assume you are talking about me and you. Because you obviously know the girl who stormed off in some form or fashion and I hope you know a little bit about the one that you are holding on to. I got to get to know you sooner or later anyways."

"This is Katie, I am Brandon."

"Henry Winderelf. Headmaster Potter never said when those tours were starting. so we probably have a long time to wait."

I conceded to the wishes of a kid that I really didn't know at all. "Alright damnit, I'll tell you…"

"So let me get this straight: this girl, Taren, was your girlfriend of sorts and you broke up with her because you were leaving to come here and now she is here. Oh, this is funny." He didn't need to tell me he thought it was funny, I could see it in his eyes that he found this whole situation ironic and humorous.

"Yes, I am glad you are rolling in laughter. But I didn't break up with her two weeks ago, try the fourteenth of February."

"What's so important about that day?" Henry sounded confused.

"Well, generally that's when girls get all mushy and sensitive because it's St. Valentines Day."

"Oh shit! Why on earth did you choose that day?"

"Cause I had to advance my ship date to Basic Training."

"You broke up with a girl on Valentines Day, then left for Basic the next day-"

I interrupted him, "That afternoon."

"And you haven't seen her since that day?" he asked.

"Right."

"Why did you do that?" Henry asked.

"Do what?"

This time it wasn't Henry but Katie that was asking me questions. "How thick of a head do you have, how could break up with her and skip town all on the same day? Valentines Day wasn't a good day to choose either."

"It was what I wanted to do. I realized I wasn't in love with her but…oh, never mind." As I spoke I could feel Katie's arm tighten around me, as if she was getting a better hold of me so I wouldn't do the same thing to her. I still didn't know what I was going to do about her.

"You can't stop there!" Henry said.

"I… um, told her I loved her a few weeks before that and well, we… sorta celebrated, if you know what I mean."

I suddenly felt a fist connecting with my shoulder; for a short guy he had some power.

"Thank you, Henry," Katie said

"What is this?" I protested.

"Well, you deserved it," she stated.

"So who was that other fellow you were talking to earlier at the table?" Henry asked. 

"No clue, who are you?"

"Ha ha, very funny, you can't sit there and tell me you didn't look around the Hall when you heard a name as absurd as Winderelf."

"I didn't hear your name called out and that's all I know is your name. How did you get a last name like Winderelf?"

"My father passed it down to me."

"Aren't you the comedian." I said sarcastically.

"I can't compete against you and your lovely ex's story, you sir are the comedian. A fascination for windows, a speech problem and having elf ancestors is how the name started and I don't have any plans to change it."

"I didn't mean it like that, I was just curious."

I watched in wonder as a drop of water landed on the top of Katie's head and another fell between myself and Henry. It went from two drops to two million in a matter of a second, but oddly no one's clothes were soaked.

Heads were turning to left and right and few people that weren't thinking looked straight up. As soon as it all started, it had stopped.

The Charms instructor, Professor Mullen, was standing at the High table with his wand in hand, a mischievous grin plastered on his face. "Now that I have your attention, everyone please go back to your house tables and wait for instructions from your Head of House."

After a few brief instructions we were on our way to explore the depths of the castle. I could have used the tour before Mr. Rowe had left me and my mother to find our way back out to the courtyard. Professor Moody wasn't much on detail, but he did include the important parts. He told us which rooms were classrooms and which classes they were, which staircases that were prone to change, but he never said what they would change into. A bathroom here and there, where the owls nested at, the Astronomy Tower - which just so happened to be as far from the Owls' Nest as it possibly could be. Three hours later, after walking all over the castle, I was fairly confident that I wouldn't get lost. Professor Moody filed us past his office on the fifth floor and further down the hall to a painting of a rising quarter moon. 

"I leave you here. You have seven hours before it changes. You should be able to figure it out before then, if not, I suggest the stables in the courtyard, the hay is softer than the stone floor here in the corridor."

A boy close to the painting spoke up as Professor Moody walked off, "Did that nut just leave us here without telling us how to get in?"

"Get into what?" I heard another reply.

A girl sighed and said, "To get into our dorms. Anybody got any ideas on what activates the door?"

Almost immediately about ten people started saying anything under the sun, hoping one of the words would activate the door. Everyone seemed centered on the painting, speaking to it, trying to move the frame, touching the canvas. An idea so simple and absurd and completely obvious popped into my head.

I called out into the mass of students milling around me. "Jack, Jack?"

"Over here," he hollered back, trying to uproot a nearby statute. I hope he wasn't going to use it as an impromptu battering ram.

"Did you ever get it worked out where you could use magic to make a howling sound?"

A heavily grated voice spoke, "Good job, young master Black."

I wasn't prepared for the statue to start talking, but I was used to things suddenly making noises. However, Jack wasn't and literally howled in a mix of shock and fright.

As he began howling a hole started to appear next to the statue, right where Jack had jumped to. To the causal observe it looked like Jack had jumped into the hole. Other boisterous students jumped in right behind Jack. After twenty or so people had jumped, a clever-looking girl took out her wand and placed a Cushioning Charm on the stone slide and jumped in after them. The habit that would turn into tradition in years to come, of jumping into the hole, was all caused because a simple statute spoke and a boy jumped.

After a tumble, a turn and a tuck and roll landing I stood up and surveyed the room that I was in. It was a vast room in size, with a low ceiling. The fireplace set against the far wall had a few coals burning the combination made the room feel almost like a lair. The room wasn't by any means barren, it was filled with various chairs, couches, and tables. I could see a black haired boy attempting to pass through a door next to a rather large potted plant that had strange purple flowers on it. At each attempt he would make it right up to the door frame before he was stopped by what appeared to be an invisible wall, even though the door was open. In his frustration he decided to take a running leap at the door. Like earlier that day the momentum was not lost, I watched and laughed as he flew backwards through the air and fell over the back of a couch and surprised a few girls when he landed upside down in their laps.

After meeting a few new people I decided to go look at the guys' dorms and see where my trunk was at. I left the den-like room through a door that was opposite of the one that the black haired boy had been trying so desperately to get through earlier. As I walked the length of the hallway I saw parchment tacked to the different doors.

_H. Crowe  
B. Ramada  
B. Quinn  
J. Yager_

The hallway went on and on and it wasn't until the last door on the right where I found my name. I realized then I was going to have one hell of a time sneaking out, having to pass all the other doorways just to get the lair-like room and then out into the corridor.

_B. Black  
J. Bolt  
C. Snider  
H. Winderelf_

The room wasn't terrible, a lot better than those World War Two barracks I had spent three weeks in. I couldn't help but laugh when I realized that the girls probably had the same floor plan and that eight girls were sharing one shower and toilet. The next morning was going to be interesting in more ways than magical classes.

**Part II. Wolfing Around.**

Something was going to have to be done about the room. Four chairs, desks and beds simply didn't leave enough space for the usual roughness that came with enclosing more than two young men. As I strolled around the room I noticed a piece of parchment laid on each of the neatly made twin-size beds.

As I read the parchment, I realized how useless it really was, the only things of value were that dinner was being served right now and that it included my class schedule for the week. Everything else, about magic not being used in the corridors, not being out past ten in the corridors, don't play tag with the larger magical animals, do not occupy the suits of armor, the spirits don't appreciate it unless you are invited. All of it was completely a waste of time, common sense and a bit of respect would get a person further than that. On the other hand, some of the stuff sounded fun. The decision between unpacking and eating wasn't difficult to make, I grabbed my friends, informed them that dinner started a few minutes ago and away we went.

I was eating stew with my new friends and dorm mates; Jack, Henry, Charlie, and Katie. While she wasn't technically my dorm mate, I was sure she wanted to change that detail. The things that girls would do could baffle me for weeks and she was certainly the biggest mystery yet or maybe it was simply lust on her part.

Something that had been puzzling me since I had met with Headmaster Potter back in February was what were a bunch of British folks doing running a school in America?

In between bites I asked Henry, who seemed to have the most information on the current activities of the Wizarding world. "Why are there Brits running this school, why not Americans?"

"It all started a good ways back, but the short of it is this: Those that have the ability to teach are fighting for the side that they believe is right. War has a way of turning teachers into leaders and ruining infrastructures. There isn't even a building large enough to hold a quarter of the youth wizard population and if there is, there is no way it's as secure as this place."

"How did this all happen and wouldn't each side try to plant operatives within the school?"

"I don't know much about the details, but it goes back to the summer of 1932 when a political party secretly became connected with a militia. Although it didn't stay secret for too long, by the mid forties there were a few well placed mass genocide attempts."

"Mass genocide attempts!"

"Yes, they mean business and they know what they are doing. Right now the continent is in the middle of the world's most secret war. Both sides are lying to cover their tracks so that no outsiders find out about the civil war that is taking place. Several attempts to start schools were made, but schools have a way of offering prime targets for each side. The Fundamentalists, which are anything but philosophical in their actions, see the school as prime targets to lower the younger population of the Tunit's and kill of any potential leaders for the next generation early on. The Tunit's view the schools, which are generally separated by political parties and origin to avoid strife among the students, as the greatest place to attack to slowly counter the European Wizards advancement over America. If they hit every school, they can kill off the European advancement and they just have the older generation to deal with." 

"How do you know all this?"

"My parents mostly, although my older brother has told me a few things too, they aren't exactly going to put this into history books until the war is over with. I am not sure how the Brits fit into it, but it would be a good guess that they are here to teach us and then step back and let us finish the matter by ourselves. We have been at a stand still for the past twenty years, not that either side has let up, but neither has gained anything."

"You seem indifferent to one side or the other?"

"I try to be, I was planning on moving back to Switzerland with the rest of my distant family when I received my invitation to this school. I am not trying to buck the system, only use it. Get what I want and leave. You're welcome to join me in Switzerland if we make it through the school year."

"I'll keep the offer in mind. I think the Headmaster had some grand schemed plan for me, but the Alps sound like heaven after listening to what has been going on here."

"As to your earlier question about how do they keep the militias from planting operatives, you don't know how many background checks they did on me. Of course this was after they tested my magical abilities. Apparently, this is a school open to everyone, but the space is limited. So, they are only taking the brightest students for the first few years. A bit unfair, but I am here so everything is okay in my book. I really don't know how they are keeping them out. I imagine they have somethi-"

As interesting as the topic was, I wasn't much in the mood to be sitting at a table while Professor Moody and Headmaster Potter threw bolts of vivid red and purple light through Thorfinn Hall at a black haired girl. My natural trained reaction was to dive to the dirt. It was only when I hit the floor that I remember that I was in an ancient stone castle. I felt the part of a fool when I took my seat again, but I then began to understand just how far some things can be planted into one's memory. As Professor Moody and the Headmaster left with the girl magically floating in front of them I heard Henry speak.

"Overreacting a bit, don't you think?"

"No, that was all natural trained reaction."

"Trained?"

"Yes, I went through a few different units, but I wound up being in the Infantry in the end. It seems my body possesses a certain amount of magic that doesn't like electronic demolition timers. To say the least, there were a few unpleasant surprises during training exercises that could have been deadly."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Professor Lupin stand up and I nodded in the general direction of the high table to Henry.

Only a light whispering could be heard, almost like a breeze among the fir trees. It was those few students who were speaking that made Professor Lupin's first words necessary. "I want everyone's attention right now. A student has already tested the word and ability of the Headmaster. She is going to be expelled. You were all warned and you are being monitored by numerous trained Legilimens, Aurors, and a few ex-Aurors.

"If you are upset that we are sneaking into your thoughts you may come by my office in the morning and we will remove you from the school. This is no game, children, you are here to learn and you were told to leave the current wizarding problems outside of this valley. If you do not think you can do that, see me in the morning.

"Dinner is over and everyone will return to your House common room at this time, your Heads of House will be speaking with you directly."

"I think they were the ones being dramatic," I told Henry.

"Typical."

"Huh?" _If that was typical, I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of aggressive. _

"You didn't grow up in the wizarding community. That is a typical response, but I doubt she will get the chance to be expelled."

"What do you mean… Oh, I think I understand now. I wonder which side the girl was working for."

"There is really no way of knowing, not much point to it now anyway," Charlie said.

"If they know which side, the staff can look for others," I replied.

"True, but I imagine there is at least one more from the other side here, too." Henry spoke.

"It's going to be an interesting few weeks before they're all gone, isn't it?" I commented; my life never seemed to dull any. It seemed that it could change on the crack of a whip and yesterday could fade into an abyss.

"Yeah and we better head to the common room before they start hexing us," Jack commented.

As we started back to the common room the noise level rose due to the decrease in the size of the room and the increase of senseless chatter about who was going to be next.

It wasn't long after we entered the common room that the hole sprang open and Professor Lupin jumped down to the floor. Everyone's eagerness in getting their questions answered suddenly disappeared and then room went from unbelievably loud to despondently silent.

"Thank you," Professor Lupin said, indicating the sudden silence, continuing, "Professor Moody is unavailable at the moment. I am here to tell you a few things about the school and Brandulfr will be along shortly to explain a few things about the Wolf House each of you have been placed in.

"No doubt a few of you found the piece of parchment that was left on your beds. Let me just say that performing magic in the hallways is not permitted. If there is a problem with something, you need to speak with a member of the staff. The curfew of ten in the evening is a privilege, it doesn't mean that you are free to roam until that time. It means you need a good cause to be out that late. If you are out later, you will serve detention or any other form of corrective measures we choose.

"While I am sure there are a few of you who have pondered the idea of playing tag with the animals, I will tell you now they have serious advantages over you. The Granians for instance have both wings and hooves. They can clobber you on top of the head and the wing part makes it easy for them to chase and catch you. I am sure the pranksters have already thought about what they could do inside a suit of armor. I warn you now, that this is very stupid thing for you to do. This castle was built by Vikings, the knights that they employed and honored by keeping their armor are probably not going to be very receptive to uninvited guests. I would leave them alone, but if you must, Healer Zook is excellent in his ability and has two witches that are serving an internship here with us.

"You are required to be in every class. If you find yourself not liking a class, you may consult with Professor Moody and see what your options are. Although you will find that you don't have very many options. Homework is not assigned because the professors like having no social life, you are expected to complete it and do well.

"Many things about the grounds and Green Raven Castle and the village are still being researched through the recently found diaries and journals of the elder witches and wizards. At the moment we know this much, a group of twenty or so wizards that came from various backgrounds but mostly Viking, settled in this valley. As the years progressed more travelers were allowed entrance to the valley, each time increasing the cultural diversity and adding on to Green Raven Castle, which from my understanding was under ongoing construction and modification for eighty to ninety years. You have probably seen the diverse amount of things that are in the castle. We can only assume that each main elder added something to the castle as it was built.

"I didn't mean to bore you for too long, so I suggest you get started unpacking your belongings and wait for Brandulfr to come along." In a flow of movements, Professor Lupin crossed the room, walked to the wall next to a dying potted plant and in a very unexpected action, He raised his leg and let out a series of yips, portraying a coyote, and exited through the staircase that abruptly appeared between two tapestries.

After a few moments things began to settle down and at Jack swayed us to all go unpack. Somehow I had managed to surgically detach the girl from my hip before Professor Lupin's speech and I wasn't in a noble haste to sew her back on, so I gladly took up the chance to escape to the guys' dorms.

For the first time in my life I was both speechless and I had something to say all at the same time! I was getting pissed at having magic constantly being done to me, first a freezing charm, a rain charm, and now this! I picked up a pillow and threw it at the back of Charlie's head. The pillow met its target and Charlie whirled around and attempted to spout off a string of playful insults but found himself in the same predicament that I was in. Once Charlie and I had gotten everyone's attention and much shrugging was done, Henry mimed writing on paper. I dug a pen out of my bag and took the notice of rules, turned the parchment over and began to write.

_What's going on? _

Charlie leaned over the desk and wrote, _Silencing Charm. _

Henry took the pen from Charlie and wrote, _Who did it? _

Jack had retrieved his quill from his desk and wrote, _Common Room_

I wrote down, _You're not making sense! How did the Common Room put a spell on us? _

As Jack replied, a look of confusion spread across his face and he once again wrote _Common Room_ and shook his head forcefully and turned the paper over to check the other side.

Charlie snatched up the pen and paper and wrote, _You okay, Jack? _

Jack read the last note from Charlie and shook his head yes and pointed at the quill and shook his head no.

Catching on to what Jack was saying, or trying to say through the complicated course of coded nods and shrugs. I picked up his quill and attempt to write, _Jack's quill has been charmed by Brandoulfur. _The long scrawling mess formed into two words: _Common Room_

_What about it?_ Charlie wrote with my pen.

I took the pen from Charlie and scribbled, _Jack's quill has been charmed by Brandoulfur to only write out the words, Common Room. I guess Brandoulfur is in the common room. _

Jack took the pen away from me and began scribbling away. I got a good chuckle out of what he was writing. Charlie and Henry looked at him like he had snakes coming out of his eye sockets. Apparently Charlie and Henry just learned a few new words. Disregarding the paper and pen, through a mix of shrugging, waving of hands and nodding, we decided to head to the common room. I was about to open a door and get the others to follow us but Jack must have been a fouler mood than I thought and stopped me.

Brandulfr's low tone echoed off the common room walls. "I am impressed! I thought it would have been one of the young ladies to arrive first." We just nodded and smiled, that was about all we were able to do besides hitting him. 

"No friends following?" I just shrugged and Jack nodded yes.

"Being unchivalrous or letting the others teach themselves?"

He was met with blank stares. How were we supposed to answer that sort of question playing this little game of charades? I was suddenly pulled over to the door by Jack. He wanted to act out the scene to answer the question. We made sure Brandulfr was watching and I went to open the door and Jack stopped me and we acted like we were walking down a short hallway.

"I am impressed with your ability to get your point across without talking. For the wisdom, Jack's decision was the best."

Jack just smiled and gave a half hearted shrug like it was no big deal.

When we finished our short antics we took seats around the glowing fireplace. I was studying the carvings on the mantle when the door to the girls' dorm opened and all the girls poured out into the common room. Maybe Jack wasn't pissed, maybe he foresaw this happening. I caught Jack's attention and arched my eyebrow at him, his only response was half of a shrug. On the flipside I had a girl promptly seat herself in my lap, instead of standing like most of the other girls, since all the seats were taken. Not only was I met with a hyper-active girl in my lap, it came complete with a kiss. What fun, I was one of four guys in a nearly full common room and the only one that could speak was an aged house-elf.

A few minutes passed before the guys' dormitory door opened. Everything was going fine until a few of the guys who had gotten worked up over the Silencing Charm noticed the four of us sitting by the fire. As they made their advance toward us, Jack quickly drew his wand out. At this move the blond headed brute of a boy just laughed and continued forward until Jack froze him place. Several people jumped back out of the way while Jack continued to hex the others.

"Enough!" Brandulfr roared and snapped his fingers and the blue tint left the blond headed boy's skin. The boy backed away, not wanting any part of Jack anymore.

"Fix the others," Brandulfr commanded.

One by one, Jack lifted the spells and casted the counter-hex on the last one.

"I thought you all would have enjoyed the adventure of figuring out what was going on. An exercise to stimulate your thoughts before classes begin, but it seems some of you enjoyed it less than others."

His expression changed from somber to pleasant and with a grin he spoke, "You will remain silent while I speak. No interruptions and you can get back to your unpacking before you take to the bed."

_As if we could say anything! We could throw the chairs at the wall and make noise but it wasn't like we could blurt out questions while he was speaking. _

"I know Professor Lupin spoke with you earlier about the rules and the castle. I am here to explain the division into which you were placed. Listen closely, take note of the things I have to say and pleasure me with making this a respectable house and an honor to be a part of while you are here at school.

"Each tale starts at the beginning, it's the only logical place to start. The Headmaster came to the Council for advice on the best way to divide the students. The Council converged and advised the Headmaster that the pupils would do well if the division requirements were based not upon ability but a person's habits, personality, and common attitude. 

"He came back later with another question about labeling the divisions. This is when we suggested; stars, people, or animals. He chose animals to avoid conflict with the events at hand. It has been said that he wasn't at the top of the class in Astronomy. 

"The Headmaster did his own research and chose his animals on his own accord but there is a reason that this division of students must do everything within your power to make this house an honorable and respectable body of students. The Wolf is deeply set in Germanic cultures. History shows that my ancestors, the Vikings, viewed the wolf with mixed feelings. Some saw it as a good omen, to others it was a terrible omen. Much worse than your wizarding Grim! This is why I shout, it will be each of you in this first year of this school that will determine how future students view this house. Make it good and you will have honor follow you and you be greeted with respect. Make it bad and you will be feared to the length that no one will wish to cast their eyes upon you.

"I represent the wolf as my birth name suggests and I am your leader. Do not cast shame upon me by your actions. From long ago it was said that whoever lost in battle was always conquered by the wolf. My forefathers are as victorious as the wolves which run upon the field of battle as the only creatures which death cannot claim. They posses the courage and bravery to put aside their own private agendas and claim the hill, plant their flag and allow the banner to wave in the wind. While they are brave, they are not foolish, they have been seen as thoughtful and possessing perseverance. Try once and fail, try twice by a second route. Wolves are pathfinders and teachers. They know when to guide and show the proper time to let someone learn for themselves. Because of all this they are seen as dangerous, they can affect fate and push destiny into the wind and let it float away. What they choose to teach and who they pick to guide through life affect more than the two men involved but hordes of men and armies that march through the fens and marshes to reach their goal.

"Sort your belongings, dwell over your thoughts, and remember that a man sleeps soft on rock and hard while resting upon sand."

He was certainly full of surprises, I wouldn't have expected a roaring voice like that from something of that stature. While he was speaking I noticed that he wasn't covered in wrinkles as it appeared at first glance. An unusual collections of tattoos, began on his hands and went all the way up to his neck. His arms were hidden by his dark green robe but if I would have to bet, I would say his arms were sheathed in odd configurations of animals and objects as his hands and lower neck were.

With two snaps he was gone and replaced with new furnishings and decorations. Well, not really replaced, but the things did appear seconds before he left. A few new portraits hung on the wall and a table with carved legs was now present. The howling wolves seemed to be supporting the burden of the red oak table top. Little odds and ends had appeared. Strangely drawn wolves encircled the pots, and I suddenly felt out of place in the chair I was sitting in, a leprechaun would have been right at home in the high-backed green velvety chair. A four legged wooden stool took its place next to a vast window and a rug unrolled itself in front of the fire.

With the supervision gone the chaos began abruptly after someone yelled, "Hey, we can talk!"

"Brilliant discovery, Einstein!" a Muggle-born boy quipped.

"My names Bernard, not Einstein." the boy hollered back.

I shook my head and chuckled at the pair of yelling students.

"What are you laughing at?" Katie asked.

"Oh, nothing you would understand unless you lived with Muggles most of your life."

"Did you finish unpacking?"

"Mostly, did you?"

"I got started but I didn't get very far."

"Get up and get after it then," I told her

She shot me a look of mild repulsion and I promptly stood up. She hit the floor with a thud and sat there glaring at me.

As she left the common room, Jack stood up and said, "You know you are going to pay for that, right

"She'll get over it or find somebody else, I really don't care which it is."

Jack headed over to talk with Henry and a pair of twins that were sitting against the wall on a rug and I left the rambunctious room for the peaceful solitude of an empty room.

I really didn't have much left to unpack but it wasn't so much unpacking that was needed as a short temporary escape. Placing the few pictures that I had on my desk and changing the sheets to the bed really didn't take that long and I was soon drawn out of my room by music that had floated its way in through the open door. The song was nearing an ancient category and was sung by a Muggle. I was walking down the hall as the last instrumental part was winding down and the song was ending.

_You don't know what we can find  
Why don't you come with me little girl on a magic carpet ride  
You don't know what we can see…_

When I opened the door to the common room my eyes and ears were instantly shocked. The volume of the music that was now playing was enough to make a deaf man shout at you to turn the volume down. Someone had gotten into the spirit of being a wolf and our house color. Green streamers were hanging from the ceiling and I wasn't sure, but it looked like a dog of some sort was roaming through the crowd. I figured it would take awhile to learn how to properly transfigure something into finer detailed figures. My guess was somebody wanted a wolf and got a dog.

A boy that I met earlier in day while waiting in line strolled up. "Hey, man."

"Hey, Cliff."

"Your girl just came out of the dorms. The punch 'll help you out, take her some," he told me.

"My girl?" 

"Uh yeah, brown hair about as tall as you and…"

"Oh, Katie! Yeah, thanks."

I left Cliff and made my way around the room, stopping by the punch bowl. I caught a whiff of the punch. As much alcohol as they added to that I might as well drink out of the bottle!

Somebody had prepared for a starting-to-school party and they prepared well! A smaller table was pushed up against a wall and bottles covered the entire table top. After a slight delay at the table and a kid giving me pointers on how to cast a refilling charm, I set out to find Katie.

It didn't take long, considering I tend to stick out everywhere I go or at least it was my hair that stuck out in both a literal and figurative sense. 

Rambunctious actions, dancing and any other sort of spontaneous thing were occurring and I had just enough to drink and not enough sense to care so I joined in and dragged Katie along with me when she protested.

After what I could only guess to be an hour I noticed Katie starting to slide out of the chair she was setting in.

I squatted down in front of the chair and asked, "Are you drunk?"

"Noooo," she drawled out and giggled.

"You're lying."

"I am not!" she protested.

"You are drunk," I stated.

"I swear to drunk, I am not God!" she confusedly and fiercely said.

"I believe the part about you not being God, but you can't swear to a state of mind, darlin.''"

She stood up quickly, swayed and started falling in my direction. I tried to pivot on my left foot but I couldn't move fast enough. I went from pleasantly squatting in front of her to having a full grown lady knocking the wind out of me and laying on top of me.

"You're comfortable," she told me in a girlish sort of way and sighed.

"You're nearly fully grown, you're on top of me and you took my breath away."

"I like you underneath of me. I took your breath away, I didn't know you were so romantic?"

"I am not! You knocked the wind out of me." My further protests were silenced with another one of her devious kisses.

When we finally stopped and I really started having problems breathing now that she settled in on top of my stomach I resumed my protests, "Hey, you can get off now!"

"Sorry," she apologized through a string of giggles, somehow an apology didn't seem to have the same effect if someone was laughing.

I noticed Brandulfr talking to Jack and I quickly turned back to face Katie, I did care a little bit about what I was about to do but it was better than being caught attending a party by a professor. "This afternoon when you said-" 

I wasn't allowed to finish my question because she seemed to understand me; she took my hand and playfully pulled me out of the common room. "Where's your room?" she asked huskily.

"Last one on the right."

I was nearly being drug the length of the hall. When we got into the room she went to shut the door and I spoke, "Don't lock it."

"Expecting someone else?" 

"Jack, Henry and Charlie are on their way here mostly likely, that is if they got out of the common room before Professor Moody arrived."

"Oh! Which bed?" Oddly, her drunked state allowed for her to be indifferent about her new friends and her hormones weren't slowed down any by the fact they would most likely be in the room in less than a minute.

"The one with a wool blanket."

"I can't exactly tell the difference between wool and cotton in the dark, genius!"

I grabbed her hand and led her over to my bed, which was on the far wall. After that Katie took care of occupying my attention.

I heard the door open and I whispered a question, "Stop?"

"No."

I was set on my task at hand and I heard Henry say, "Guess that answers our question about where Brandon was at."

"Take it or leave it, gents. She said she wasn't going to stop," I told them as the Jack closed and locked the door.

"Well, I guess we can help a poor girl out then," Charlie said with a chuckle and enlarged the twin size bed to a four poster bed complete with curtains.

"Thanks."

"You forgot the silencing charm, Charlie."

"Wait!"

"What is it, Henry?"

"He's got to place the charm on his bed, not himself," Henry pointed out.

"Good point, I didn't think about the bed," Charlie said

"Sorry for the interruption, Brandon, I want some sleep tonight."

It was all rather humorous from my point of view and I just laughed it off while Katie did the spell work. I was liable to turn the bed into boat or charm it to screech all night long. My last clear thought before Katie settled back on top me was, I hope neither of us pass out.


	5. Lessons Begin

Author's Notes:

A mysterious speaker, running from horses, a run for fun, an old mad man, and a broom closet all before the start of the official lessons! House-elves to follow soon! The title is not about the scheduled courses.

**Blue Eyes of a Black Wolf**

Chapter V. Lessons Begin. 

I woke early that morning like I always do, but this time it was different. I had a young lady's head on my shoulder, sound asleep. I was faced with a choice; wake Katie or carefully carry her back to her own bed. I may have been part of the Infantry and one of the craziest grunts there was in my platoon, but I know that you don't wake a woman up after two hours of sleep. That is unless you have a death wish. It just isn't smart, unless their life is endangered, and if it isn't, yours will soon be. You could count on that. The choice wasn't too hard to make. I gently picked Katie up with the sheet wrapped around most of her body.

Carrying her in my arms wasn't the problem. It was the doors that proved to be tricky. I was almost to the other side of the common room when I heard a gritty voice say, "Up early, young Master Black?" I almost jumped in shock, not to mention nearly dropping Katie. I knew there was no one in the room when I entered. At least nobody I could see, there was always magic. I kept forgetting about that, and I was sure there was some way to hide yourself using magic.

"Just a habit of mine," I answered, not having a clue who I was speaking to.

"Very well. I noticed you escaped as Mad-Eye entered. You have good observations."

"Thank you, I need to get this young lady to her room if you don't mind."

"Not thinking clearly. You can't go further than the door frame."

"Right, how could I forget?" _I will figure out a way in before the moon has waxed over again. _

I really didn't want to wake Katie. "You can't make that magic on the door go away can you? Just this once, so I can get Katie to her bed."

"If you would have asked me a few hundred years ago I could, but now I can only observe, speak, and guard those things that need protection." I could hear a slight chuckle as the gritty voice filled the room.

"What exactly is the purpose of that door? What good does it do by keeping us out?"

"It's really for your safety, think about what would happen if there wasn't a place for the young ladies to retreat too."

After a few moments of silence I replied, "Lots of hexes and spells and we would be the targets." 

"Absolutely, young Master Black."

Katie wasn't exactly getting any smaller or lighter, so I said good bye to the mysterious-apparently dead- person I was speaking to and walked back to my room. I placed her back on my bed and stood there watching her peacefully sleep. What I would give or do to be able to sleep peacefully again. The simple pleasures in life that people take for granted and don't even realize it. My body refused to relax completely when I was sleeping alone, sleeping with someone else helped but not by much. The result though, was a person that could take a beating and keep on kicking. It wasn't like I didn't know my own strength or any of that crazy nonsense. I just had more endurance and more time to train than any normal person. Two to four hours of sleep was all I needed anymore. I couldn't explain it in words and Army Medics couldn't explain in medical terms, so I just shrugged it off and reasoned with myself that it was nothing to worry about. It also gave me more time to train.

I looked at my watch; I had roughly an hour before breakfast began, just enough time for a run and a quick shower. Katie would probably still be sleeping by the time I was finished.

Running through the castle wasn't the brightest of ideas I have had in a while. A castle that held enormous amounts of magic at that. I found out first hand and four seconds too late just exactly how the staircases could change. One moment I was running up the staircase, and the next moment I was attempting to run up a smooth stone slide. I was making as much progress as molasses does on a _cold_ morning in the artic. After a bit of hard work I eventually made it to the top only to be chased moments later by a member of the Cavalry. As I approached the entrance to the Lair I began howling like mad. The Cavalry had increased in their numbers and stairs didn't slow them down at all. It was fun having them chase me. I could stop and explain myself, but that wouldn't have been as exciting as letting them think I was doing something wrong.

The hole finally appeared in the stone floor, and I didn't even stop to think about what I was doing. I took a huge jump and landed with thud and an ominous crack on the stone floor. I have done combat dives numerous times but only a few times on stone or concrete. The pain in my foot was telling me, 'and that's why you only did it a few times.' I needed to remind someone to put a _permanent _cushioning charm on that area of the floor. My foot didn't feel broken, but it didn't feel like roses either. After a quick shower I found myself standing yet again over the sleeping form of Katie.

"I shouldn't, but I better leave her alone today," I muttered, thinking aloud to myself. With that I left to see if they had started serving breakfast in Thorfinn Hall yet.

As I entered I noticed that I was one of five students awake and wanting to eat something, I looked to be the youngest of the group and we all looked alike. Well except for the girl, she had longer hair and curves instead of the muscular build. I took a seat at the nearest Wolf table, which happened to be next to the young lady and two guys.  
"Good mornin' ma'am," I said with an air. I saw a smile creeping upon her face.

"It's too damn early, so don't even start!" she exclaimed.

She was putting on a good show. That smile didn't deny the fact that she liked being treated properly, but she also probably wanted to be left alone too.

"What's good this morning, ma'am?" I questioned anyone listening.

"Do I look like a waitress to you?" she remarked sarcastically.

"More than the two guys sitting on the other side of the table," I said with a chuckle.

"Oh, shut up. The bacon is still hot along with the pancakes."

"Thank you, ma'am."

"Stop calling me ma'am. I ain't that much older than you."

"What shall I call you then?" I inquired.

"Sandra," she said bluntly.

I began shoveling food away aware that the guys weren't talking, and Sandra kept eyeing me.

I stopped long enough to say, "You got a question?"

"I… what's your name?"

I could tell that was she was going to ask me so I tried to break down that uncomfortable feeling by being a bit unlike my normal self, giving her something to laugh about.

"The great and magnificently noble Master Black. You may call me Brandon if you wish," I replied.

"How about, bonehead?" she said suppressing a smile.

"No, it doesn't have the same ring to it," I said with a chuckle.

"Ring? The great-whatever is a huge mouthful to say every time I want to get your attention, don't ya think?"

_She plans on getting my attention later, hmm. _"Maybe I should shorten it a bit." With that I finished up my breakfast and sat there taking in the picture before me.

A huge room with tables and chairs covering most of the area, a single teacher sitting alone nursing a cup of coffee at the Head Table. Why he was here and not in his office was beyond me. And of course there was the two of us, a bunch of chairs, and a lone figure eating at one of the Buffalo tables.

My thoughts returned to a certain black haired beauty seated beside me.

"What were you going to say earlier?"

"Do what, when?"

"Right before you asked my name."

"Oh," was the only answer I got along with a blushing girl staring back at me.

I put my arm around her chair and leaned over to whisper in her ear. 

"Spoiled thoughts, ma'am?"

"No! I was going to ask you if you wanted to walk to class with me."

"You were going to ask me!"

"I hope I didn't hurt the noble Master Black's feelings by moving too quickly," she spoke with a sly grin.

"Not at all, which class do you have first?" 

She pulled a sheet of paper out of her pocket and looked down at it. A lock of hair fell in front over face, and I boldly reached over and tucked it behind her ear for her.

"Practical Defense, but it doesn't start until eight."

"Care for a walk around the castle?"

"You just up and ask any girl to walk around a castle with you won't you!" she teased with me.

"Not any girl, Sandy."

"Well in that case, I guess I could."

"Wonderful!" I cried and picked Sandra up out of her chair. I threw her over my shoulder like a sack of horse feed and proceeded to walk out Thorfinn Hall.

"Brandon whatever-the-hell-your-middle-name-is Black put me down now!" she screeched at me.

"Mr. Black, that will be enough of that, put the young lady down," the teacher said without ever looking up from the paper he was reading.

"I will, sir, when I get to where I am going. But not a foot sooner."

Sandy kept up her complaining until we were outside the doors of the hall.

"I never said who would be doing the walking, Sandy."

"I know that now!"

"Hold on," was the only warning I gave her, and I took off at a sprint through the hallways with her on my shoulder.

"Black, be careful, I almost hit the wall."

"Sorry about that!"

Why she chose to wear that short skirt on the first day was beyond my thinking skills, but it was making carrying her a bit difficult.

_Damn, a teacher down the hallway. _I took the hallway to the right at the last minute. I heard a slight thud as I rounded the corner.

"You all right?"

"I will be when I kill you!"

"I take it you're having fun then. Oh… this isn't good."

"What isn't good?"

"Stairs, darlin', going up."

"Ouch, oof, you don't- have to run- up them, ouch."

My hand and arm was slipping further up her leg as we continued down the hall. 

"Another set of stairs."

"Wonderful," she spoke venomously.

"Piece of cake," I replied.

Amidst a slew of cursing she finally got out a few civil words. "You don't have to take the steps two at a time. I am taking a beating back here!"

"Sorry, but it's quicker to go two at a time," I said with an air of wisdom.

"We have two hours before we need to be in class! You can go slower."

"Roger." Even though I agreed with her, I didn't slow down at all.

We ran right past an unsuspecting group of guys on the third floor.

"I guess it's too much to ask to stop now that you have shown half the school my ass!"

"Four guys is hardly half the school, and besides it's not my fault that you chose to wear a short skirt. Nice underwear by the way!" She couldn't see my face but I was grinning ear to ear.

"I am really gonna kill you when you set me down," she nearly screamed at me.

"Relax a bit, will ya?"

I flattened her skirt back down, much to her protest of my hand 'rubbing her rump' as she put it.

A short while later we were standing, well I was standing, in front of the Practical Defense room on the fifth floor.

"Not your average walk, 'eh?"

"You could say that."

"You still want to kill me."

"No… right now I am thinking about slow means of torture."

"That bad then, well, let's get out of the hallway and someplace a bit more private to talk."

"Don't even think about the broom closet, Brandon!"

"I was thinking the classroom, all I really want to do is talk, I swear."

"Yeah right, I know what all you guys want."

"Fine then, if you don't believe me I will let you choose. How does that sound?"

After a moment of silence I shook her to make sure she was still coherent. She had hit her head pretty hard on the wall back there.

"I…uh…broom closet?"

_Women! _

"The great and magnificently noble Master Black thinks that would be taking advantage of a slightly addled young lady. To the classroom."

"Ugh."

"Yes, I know, a great disappointment, but I have a few slightly important questions about this magical world of yours that I know absolutely nothing about." 

The inside of the room was huge, it was as large as a basketball court. It even had a wooden floor but that was where the similarities stopped. Shelves lined the walls filled with ancient books. There was an elevated stage at one end of the room and that was it. The room was completely barren, all business; no ruffles, no lace, and absolutely no distractions.

"Well this is certainly a lovely room," Sandra said sarcastically.

"So tell me, is this magical world round or is it flat?" I asked Sandra jokingly.

"It's more pear-shaped than round…but it's definitely not flat," she said with a mischievous grin.

"Ok," I said with a chuckle and continued on in a somber tone, "What was that girl trying to accomplish in Thorfinn hall?"

"I don't think she actually did anything."

"What do you mean? They wouldn't just attack her for no reason! Would they?" I asked slightly worried.

"She didn't do anything yet. But she was planning something. They simply stopped her before she could execute the plan."

"Wait, I am lost. How did they know she was planning something?"

"Damn, this is going to take a while. Pay close attention to what I have to say and hold your questions until I ask for them," she said and pulled out her wand and waved it. A stack of cushions in the corner began to unstack themselves and fly toward us.

Once Sandy had the cushions arranged to her comfort and liking she sat down on them and she pointed to the floor in front of her. Instead of taking her motion of sitting on the floor, I sat down next to her on the cushions. 

"Roger."

And so she spent the next thirty minutes carefully explaining the basics of how wizards see the thoughts of other wizards, commonly known as Legilimency. Along with a process of properly clearing ones mind of any thought, used to block the first thing.

"What are your questions? It's impossible for you to not have any on this subject!"

"So let me get this straight. Somebody can do this Legilimency thing and they heard the girl planning something at dinner. So they just attacked her because she was planning something?"

"Yes, and I take that you understand the concept of Legilimency fairly well then."

"Not really, I was in the Infantry not PSYOP's," I said with a laugh. 

"I was a medic before I came here."

"Hmmm…" 

"Don't look at me like that! Or hurt yourself on purpose when I am around you." She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek and then whispered into my ear, "I wouldn't mind taking care of you or just being around you."

We got caught up in ourselves and neither one of us noticed the door open and Professor Alastor "Mad Eye" Moody walked into the Practical Defense classroom.

I heard a growling voice say, "Well, I thought the normal spot for that was a broom closet."

I jumped up off the cushions and Sandy started giggling.

"Brandon, I won't even ask what she is thinking about, next time you need a romantic getaway don't use my classroom, try one of the towers. For a split second I thought there were two eager to learn students waiting in my class room."

I stood there, not sure what I should do; I had never been in this situation before. I looked at my watch and nodded at the door to Sandy. We had more than half an hour before class began. As I shut the door, I heard Professor Moody say, "Don't be late, Black!"

I would take Moody up on his suggestion later, for now the broom closet right across the hall was our destination. I winked at Sandy, looked to my left and right and then opened the door.

"Now, where were we?" I asked with a seductive look.

"I don't know about we, but you were about to get slapped," she said indignantly.

"Why is that?"

"You don't even know my favorite color or anything else about me and you were trying to unhook my bra as the Professor walked in! That is-" She was about to get a head of steam built up, so I covered her mouth.

"Your favorite color is blue. You like lace but don't want anybody to know it, and I had no conscious thought I was unhooking your bra." I could see the look in her eyes go from slightly pissed off to deer-in-the-headlights type of shocked look. I replaced my hand with my lips and leaned her against a shelf of magical scrub-less multi-purpose stone floor cleaner.

"How did you know about the lace?" she questioned me after a moment.

"It's simple, no girl expects to do anything on the first day of a new school, but she will always wear what she likes and what she feels comfortable in." 

She leaned over and kissed me, pulled back with a twinkling look in her eye and said, "Need some help with that clasp?"

I was a bit puzzled how she knew that I was having problems getting it to unhook, so I lied a little bit to her. I was trying to unhook it but no man is going to admit that he can't take a woman's bra off!

"Maybe tonight, Sandy, when we have more time to ourselves." She looked a bit put off so I added, "After dinner we can go for a walk, ok?"

"No!" she almost yelled.

"I promise I won't pick you up," I assured her.

"Ok, I'll go." She paused for a second and then continued, "I kind of like being carried, but it hurt going up those stairs," she finished and rubbed her apparently sore chest.

"Sorry about that," I said, realizing the mistake I'd made by carrying her like a sack of potatoes feet first. "I just have one more question about this crazy world that I am a part of."

"What is that?"

"How does all this wand waving and freakin' magic work!"

The response I got was not what I expected, to say the least. Sandy slapped her forehead and slumped her shoulders before she said anything.

"I think I will let Professor Moody explain this one to you, because class is fixing to start in a few minutes."

"Alright."

The Practical Defense class was like the opening day of a karate class, no place to sit, nobody knows anyone, everyone wants to get started, but nobody knows what they are going to be doing when the class starts!

The slightly hunched over, wooden legged, magical eye seeing professor entered the room through a door on stage. With an almost theatrical appearance he walked to the front of the stage, and with every other step a thud of wood on wood sounded. By the time he got to the front of the stage the dull roar that had engulfed the room had vanished. A boy was looking through a dusty old book and let out a particularly loud sneeze.

"I really don't care what you think you know about practical defense. I want to know what you can do under pressure. What you can remember when spells, curses, and vile dark creatures are breathing down your neck!"

And that was how my first class started and it only got stranger as the day grew longer. I started learning how to take care of the common magical animals. A professor turned himself into a bear. That gave me a lot to think about, particularly about something that I had thought I had dreamed about last summer. I had managed to avoid Katie all day long; some higher being had looked down upon me with pity and given us completely opposite schedules. I still had a walk after I finished dinner to look forward to, anything could happen. Being chased by a love struck girl or a magical horse. Possibly getting confused and turned around in the dark, but _never_ lost. My days of fighting corrupt forces were over with, I was here to have fun and enjoy every second of it and it was going to start tonight.


End file.
